Came^je  Endowment  for  Internationai  Peace 


DIV.SiOK   OF   ECONOMICS   AND   HISTORY 


PRELIMINARY    ECONOMIC   STUDIES  OF  THE   WAR 


BRITISH  LABOR  CONDITIONS  AND 
LEGISLATION    DURING   THE   WAR 


V 


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Ex  Libril 
C.  K.  OGDEN 


Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace 


DIVISION  OF  ECONOMICS  AND  HISTORY 
JOHN   BATES  CLARK,  DIRECTOR 


PRELIMINARY  ECONOMIC   STUDIES   OF  THE  WAR 


EDITED  BY 


DAVID    KINLEY 


Profeitor  of  Political  Economy,  University  of  Illinois 
Member  of  Committee  of  Research  of  the  Endowment 


No.   14 


BRITISH  LABOR  CONDITIONS  AND 
LEGISLATION   DURING  THE   WAR 


BY 

M.    B.    HAMMOND 

Professor  of  Economics,  Ohio  State  University 

Representative  of  U    S.  Food  Administration  on  the 

War  Labor  Policies  Board 


NEW  YORK 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

AMERICAN  BRANCH:  35  West  32nd  Strebt 
LONDON.  TORONTO.  MELBOURNE.  AND  BOMBAY 

1919 


COPYRIGHT  1919 

BY  THE 

CARNEGIE    ENDOWMENT  FOR  INTERNATIONAL  PEACE 
2  Jackson  Place,  Washington,  D    C. 


UBRAHY 

IJNIVElieiTY  OF  CALIFORNU 

SANTA  BARBARA 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 


The  subject  of  this  monograph  is  one  of  wide  pubHc  interest. 
Perhaps  no  one  subject  connected  with  the  war,  aside  from  those 
having  immediately  to  do  with  direct  military  operations,  has 
aroused  a  greater  interest  in  the  minds  of  the  public  than  have 
changes  induced  in  the  labor  situation.  The  editor  requested 
Professor  Hammond  to  take  up  the  subject,  believing  that  his 
years  of  study  of  labor  questions,  and  his  familiarity  with  inno- 
vations in  Australia  and  elsewhere,  would  enable  him  more 
quickly  to  understand  and  more  justly  to  appreciate  the  impor- 
tance of  such  radical  changes  as  the  war  induced  in  the  condi- 
tions of  employment  and  life  of  the  workers  of  the  world.  His 
treatment  has  justified  this  confidence. 

Aside  from  contributing  to  our  information  on  the  condition 
of  labor  in  the  war.  Professor  Hammond's  discussion  will  help 
the  public  to  juster  conclusions  on  many  matters  commonly 
described  as  a  dispute  between  labor  and  capital,  though  more 
correctly  described  as  between  the  systems  of  economic  liberal- 
ism and  social  control  of  capital.  Many  of  the  critics  of  eco- 
nomic liberalism  seem  to  show  by  their  comments  that  their 
familiarity  with  the  doctrines  of  liberalism  are  second  hand.  As 
in  their  theology  they  are  presbyterians,  perhaps,  because  their 
fathers  and  mothers  were,  so  they  are  solidarists  and  critics  of 
liberalism  because  their  teachers  were  so.  They  bitterly  assail 
Ricardianism,  but  have  never  read  Ricardo.  Many  of  the 
prophets  fail  to  see,  or  seeing  fail  to  admit,  that  the  aim  of  the 
individual  system  of  economic  philosophy  is  precisely  the  same 
as  that  of  the  system  of  so-called  social  solidarity,  the  improve- 
ment of  the  economic  life  of  the  individual  human  being.  Eco- 
nomic liberalism,  as  a  system,  has  contributed,  as  shown  by  men 
like  Hermann  Levy,  very  largely  to  the  progress  of  humanity. 
Its  adherents,  like  those  of  the  "  new  "  social  philosophy,  believe 
that  the  earth  belongs  to  us  all.    It  bade  each  of  us  to  go  in  and 


IV  EDITOR  S    PREFACE 

get  his  share  in  the  belief,  which  was  more  or  less  justified 
under  conditions  of  a  century  ago,  that  each  would  be  able  to 
get  his  share.  Now  that  the  field  of  competition  is  more 
crowded,  and,  therefore,  men  must  jostle  one  another  in  the 
race,  more  complex  "  rules  of  the  game  "  must  be  laid  down. 
We  can  not  now  assume  that  each  will  get  his  share  by  his  own 
strength.  We  must  find  some  means  of  assuring  him  a  share 
proportional  in  equity  to  his  contribution  to  the  general  welfare. 
We  are  bound,  moreover,  to  inquire  into  the  legitimacy  of 
unusual  gains  by  individuals  and  to  take  such  measures  as  are 
necessary  to  prevent  the  exploitation  of  one  by  another.  Yet 
these  necessities  of  the  situation  involve  no  new  social,  juridical, 
or  philosophical  principles.  That  private  property  is  a  public 
trust  is  a  thought  imbedded  in  the  juridical  system  of  the 
English-speaking  peoples;  that  the  community  can  compel  the 
observance  of  this  principle  is  a  fact  that  has  always  been  recog- 
nized among  those  peoples.  Sometimes  they  have  thought  that 
a  minimum  of  intervention  secured  the  end.  At  other  times, 
among  them  the  present  time,  they  have  thought  a  maximum  of 
intervention  necessary.  But  the  aim  and  the  principle  have  been 
the  same.  We  need  to  remember  this  in  these  days  when  so 
many  proposals  of  social  reconstruction,  not  well  thought  out 
and  not  logically  coherent,  are  being  foisted  on  the  public 
attention. 

Professor  Hammond's  study  shows  that  in  the  attempt  to 
secure  that  welfare  of  the  worker  which  has  been  the  common 
aim  of  liberalism,  as  well  as  of  other  social  systems,  the  existing 
conditions  of  industry  justify,  and,  indeed,  necessitate,  a  more 
complex  regulation  of  the  relations  between  the  employer  and 
the  employed,  a  better  protection  of  the  economically  weak,  a 
renewed  insistence  on  the  principle  that  the  welfare  of  each 
is  in  a  true  sense  the  business  of  all.  The  study  shows  that 
some  of  the  measures  necessary  are  a  greater  coordination  of 
the  efiforts  of  the  worker  and  the  employer,  and  greater  efficiency 
on  the  part  of  both,  leading  permanently  to  the  higher  wages 
necessary  for  better  living  conditions.  We  are  familiar  with 
such  proposals.     The  duty  as  well  as  the  self-interest  of  the 


EDITOR  S    PREFACE  V 

public,  which  after  all  is  simply  the  whole  number  of  us  or  the 
majority  of  us  in  certain  relations,  makes  necessary  insistence 
on  the  provision  of  better  physical  conditions  of  living,  better 
moral  surroundings,  wider  educational  opportunities,  and  a 
wider  and  deeper  sense  of  mutual  obligation.  It  is  hopeless 
to  think  that  these  ends  can  be  largely  or  permanently  attained 
through  the  exercise  of  force  by  any  one  class  over  another. 
The  lasting  solution  lies  in  the  acceptance  of  better  moral 
standards  which  lead  us  to  recognize  our  mutual  duties  and  to 
make  our  self-interest  more  enlightened. 

I  commend  Professor  Hammond's  work  to  the  earnest  con- 
sideration of  all  students  of  the  subject. 

David  Kinley, 
Editor. 

Urbana,  Illinois,  February  19, 1919. 


FOREWORD 

The  publishers  of  this  series  of  studies  have  wisely  emphasized 
their  preliminary  character.  To  record  the  important  happenings 
in  a  great  war  and  to  attempt  to  show  the  causal  connection  of 
these  events  while  the  war  is  still  in  progress  means  that,  inevita- 
bly, the  writer  will  mistake  the  significance  of  certain  events  and 
either  magnify  or  minimize  their  importance.  I  have  sought  to 
avoid  this,  as  far  as  possible,  by  making  my  account  a  narration 
rather  than  an  interpretation.  A  critical  account  of  the  labor 
situation  and  administration  in  Great  Britain  during  the  war 
must  await  the  pen  of  some  future  historian. 

Even  as  regards  the  accuracy  of  some  of  the  statements  in  the 
following  pages,  I  may  not  speak  with  assurance,  although  I 
have  used  official  material,  wherever  possible,  and  have  otherwise 
used  the  best  information  available.  I  have  received  generous 
assistance  from  manv  persons  in  the  course  of  the  preparation 
of  the  monograph,  but  I  am  especially  indebted  to  Mr.  Hugh  S. 
Hanna,  now  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  War  Labor  Board,  but 
formerly  engaged  in  editorial  work  for  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor,  and  who, 
during  the  early  stages  of  this  monograph,  was  keeping  in  close 
touch  with  English  labor  movements  and  legislation,  I  am 
also  indebted  to  Miss  Laura  A,  Thompson.  Librarian  of  the 
Department  of  Labor,  who  has  not  only  supplied  me  with 
material  but  with  information  as  to  where  it  was  to  be  found, 

M.  B.  Hammond. 
United  States  Food  Administration, 

November  1, 1918. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  The  Social  Background   3 

II  English  Industry  and  Labor  at  the  Outbreak  of  the 

War 22 

III  Industrial  Panic  and  Readjustment 32 

IV  The  Government  and  the  Trade  Unions 68 

V  The  Munitions  of  War  Acts 86 

VI  The  Supply  and  Distribution  of  Labor 113 

VII  The  Dilution  of  Labor   140 

VIII  Wages,  Cost  of  Living,  Hours  of  Labor,  Welfare 

Work  and  Unemployment 185 

IX  Industrial  Unrest 230 

X  Industrial   Reconstruction    269 

Index    329 


BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND 
LEGISLATION 


CHAPTER  I 
The  Social  Background 

The  coming  into  power  of  the  Liberal  government  in  1905 
marks  for  England  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  not  only  in 
politics  but  in  social  legislation.  For  a  decade  or  more  there 
had  been  signs  of  industrial  unrest  and  of  a  growing  discontent  — 
among  the  working  classes.  In  spite  of  the  wonderful  expansion 
of  industry  and  of  trade  during  the  preceding  half  century,  and 
of  an  enormous  increase  of  wealth  whose  rate  of  growth  far 
exceeded  that  of  the  population,  it  can  not  be  said  that  this  pros- 
perity had  been  shared  by  all  classes  or  that  either  Parliament  or 
party  leaders  showed  any  marked  disposition  to  favor  measures 
which  tended  to  promote  a  better  distribution  of  wealth  or  to 
raise  the  standard  of  living  of  the  working  classes.  Imperialism, 
home  rule,  colonial  federation  and  fiscal  reforms  were  the  ques- 
tions which  chiefly  occupied  the  attention  of  the  politicians,  and 
even  Mr.  Chamberlain's  advocacy  of  old  age  pensions  was 
coupled  with,  and  subordinated  to,  his  desire  to  secure  a  protec- 
tive tariff. 

The  struggle  to  secure  factory  legislation  which  had  marked 
the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  found  no  counterpart  dur- 
ing the  second  half,  although  the  laws  themselves  were  codified 
and  improved  in  details.  The  legislative  movement  in  behalf  of 
shorter  hours  had  apparently  come  to  an  end,  and  such  later 
progress  as  had  been  made  in  that  direction  had  come  mainly 
through  the  trade  unions. 

The  trade  unions  themselves  had  made  continuous,   if  not 
steady,  progress  and  in  certain  lines  of  industry  had  succeeded  in 
securing  for  their  members  good  wages  and  working  conditions, 
but  their  influence  was  confined  for  the  most  part  to  the  skilled  A 
trades  and  even  in  these  trades  their  progress  was  by  no  means  " 

3 


4  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

uniform.  Among  unskilled  laborers  low  wages  and  irregularity 
of  employment  created  a  situation  which  bordered  close  upon 
dependency.  The  careful  studies  made  by  men  like  Charles 
Booth  and  B.  S.  Rowntree  showed  that  in  the  larger  English 
cities  there  was  a  considerable  percentage  of  the  population  living 
close  to  the  pauper  line.  Pauperism  itself,  while  it  showed  a 
decline  in  most  years,  had  been  characterized  by  a  rapidly  dimin- 
ishing rate  of  decrease  in  later  years,  in  spite  of  a  rapid  increase 
of  public  expenditures  for  poor  relief.  The  report  of  the  Poor 
Law  Commission  published  in  1909  said :  "  the  country  is  main- 
taining a  multitude  of  paupers  not  far  short  of  the  number  main- 
tained in  1871-72,  and  is  spending  more  than  double  the  amount 
upon  each  individual." 

Recognition  of  these  tendencies  had  begun  to  create  uneasiness 
in  both  the  leading  political  parties  even  prior  to  the  incoming  of 
the  Liberal  government  in  1905,  but  neither  the  Liberals  under 
Gladstone  nor  the  Conservatives  under  Salisbury  and  Balfour 
were  ready  to  propose  any  very  radical  changes  in  the  way  of 
social  legislation.  Even  of  the  changes  proposed  by  the  Balfour 
government  in  1905,  only  one — the  Unemployed  Workmen  Bill 
— secured  parliamentary  approval,  and  that  in  a  form  which  left 
little  hope  of  its  practical  success. 

Meanwhile  a  new  party  (Labor)  was  being  formed,  composed 
of  representatives  of  the  trade  unions  and  of  the  socialist  socie- 
ties, and  this  party  succeeded  at  the  election  of  1906  in  electing 
29  members  of  Parliament  from  its  own  nominees,  besides  24 
others  who  were  more  or  less  identified  with  the  labor  movement. 
These  added  to  378  Liberals  elected  at  the  same  time  and  pledged 
to  labor  reforms  created  a  strong  majority  in  the  Commons  in 
favor  of  the  Liberal-Labor  measures  and  left  little  doubt  that 
the  Parliament  which  assembled  in  1906  would  carry  out  a  pro- 
gram of  social  reform  of  a  far  reaching  character.  What  some 
of  these  reforms  would  be  had  already  been  indicated  in  the 
course  of  the  campaign  and  in  the  resolutions  adopted  by  political 
and  labor  bodies,  but  more  substantial  arguments  were  furnished 
for  some  of  them,  and  the  necessity  of  other  reforms  made  evi- 
dent, by  the  investigations  and  report  of  the  Poor  Law  Commis- 


THE    SOCIAL    BACKGROUND  6 

sion,  which  was  appointed  in  December,  1905,  and  which  com- 
pleted its  work  early  in  1909. 

Findings  and  Recommendations  of  the  Poor  Law 
Commission 

Much  of  the  work  of  the  commission  had  to  do  with  the 
history  and  administration  of  the  existing  poor  laws,  with  sta- 
tistics of  the  numbers,  ages  and  distribution  of  paupers,  with  the 
costs  of  relief  and  with  the  work  of  private  charities,  but  here 
and  there  in  the  report  and  the  appendices  are  discussions  of  the 
causes  of  pauperism,  which  show  that  much  of  the  prevalent  pov- 
erty and  distress  was  due  to  the  social  environment  in  which  the 
laboring  classes  were  living  and  to  the  failure  of  society  to  adopt 
preventive  measures  which  are  everywhere  called  for  by  the 
present  mode  of  industrial  organization. 

Of  the  causes  of  pauperism,  the  commission  placed  chief  em- 
phasis upon  the  following :  ^ 

1.  Old  age,  "  when  combined  with,  or  following  upon,  other 
causes,  such  as  low  earning  power,  drink  or  shiftlessness."  The 
relation  of  this  cause  to  the  industrial  situation  is  seen  in  the  sig- 
nificant statement  that  the  commission  "  found  a  very  general 
opinion  that  the  development  of  industry  is  such  as  to  make  in- 
creasing demands  upon  the  worker,  and  thus  cause  him  to  drop 
out  of  the  industrial  ranks  at  an  earlier  age."  The  obvious  solu- 
tion of  the  old  age  problem  was  a  system  of  old  age  insurance 
or  old  age  pensions  and  Parliament  had  already  taken  this  step 
before  the  Poor  Law  Commission  made  its  final  report,  by  the 
adoption  of  the  Old  Age  Pensions  Act,  1908.  As  regards  the 
reluctance  of  employers  to  engage  old  men,  the  commission  said 
that  this  tendency  to  pauperism  was  beyond  the  influence  of  the 
poor  law  administrators,  but  that  the  remedy  was  to  be  found 
partly  in  a  willingness  of  trade  unions  to  allow  older  men  to  work 
for  a  lower  wage  than  that  paid  to  younger  men,  and  partly  in  a 
system  of  insurance  against  unemployment. 

1  A  summary  of  this  part  of  the  Poor  Law  Report  is  to  be  foiind  in  Helen 
Bosanquet's  The  Poor  Law  Report  of  1909,  pp.  24-42. 


6  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

2.  Drink  as  a  factor  in  the  creation  of  pauperism  was  shown 
to  possess  great  importance  by  the  evidence  submitted  to  the 
commission.  Especially  in  the  case  of  inmates  of  workhouses 
and  infirmaries,  drink  was  held  to  be  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
dependency.  Not  only  the  drinker  himself  but  other  members 
of  his  family  were  kept  in  poverty,  if  not  reduced  to  a  state  of 
dependency  by  this  cause.  The  commission  suggested  no  radical 
remedy  for  this  evil,  believing  that  it  must  be  found  "  in  the 
greater  self-control  of  the  people  themselves,"  but  they  did 
recommend  that  provision  be  made  for  the  compulsory  detention 
of  inebriates  in  certain  cases.  Parliament  had  made  some  effort 
to  deal  with  the  drink  question  by  means  of  the  Licensing  Bill  of 
1908,  which  was  adopted  in  the  Commons  by  a  large  majority, 
but  was  rejected  by  the  House  of  Lords.  No  further  legislation 
in  the  way  of  abatement  of  the  drink  evil  seems  to  have  been 
attempted  prior  to  the  war. 

3.  Sickness  was  a  cause  which  contributed  largely  to  pauper- 
ism, according  to  the  report  of  the  commission.  "  Any  form  of 
illness  which  is  severe  and  prolonged  tends  to  exhaust  the 
resources  of  the  family,  especially  when  it  is  the  wage  earner  who 
suffers."  The  specific  diseases  which  the  commission  found 
most  productive  of  pauperism  were  the  venereal  diseases  and  con- 
sumption, and  the  effects  of  these  diseases  were  greatly  aggra- 
vated by  the  living  conditions  amongst  the  very  poor.  The  recom- 
mendations of  the  commission  called  for  an  entire  change  in  the 
modes  of  furnishing  medical  relief,  placed  great  emphasis  on 
preventive  measures  and  recommended  that  in  certain  cases, 
especially  when  dealing  with  the  above  mentioned  diseases,  power 
of  compulsory  removal  to,  and  detention  in,  an  institution  should 
be  given  to  the  authorities  under  proper  safeguards.  As  we  shall 
presently  see,  the  question  of  providing  adequate  medical  assist- 
ance was  dealt  with  by  Parliament  in  a  thoroughgoing  fashion 
by  Part  I  of  the  National  Insurance  Act,  1911. 

4.  Bad  housing  conditions  and  bad  sanitation,  as  they  induce 
sickness  and  loss  of  vitality,  were  among  the  causes  of  pauperism 
as  stated  by  the  Poor  Law  Commission.  Especial  emphasis  was 
laid  upon  the  influence  of  the  unregulated  or  insufficiently  regu- 


THE   SOCIAL   BACKGROUND  7 

lated  common  lodging  houses  and  furnished  rooms.  The  gov- 
vernment  undertook  to  deal  with  the  housing  problem  by  the 
Housing,  Town  Planning,  etc.,  Act,  1909.  ♦ 

5.  Amongst  industrial  causes  of  pauperism,  the  commission 
declared  that  irregularity  of  employment  stood  foremost.  To  a 
certain  extent  casual  labor  itself  was  found  to  be  a  result  of  the 
demoralization  of  the  work  people  by  other  causes,  but  there  was 
little  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  commission  that  if  regularity  of 
employment  could  be  secured  for  those  able  and  willing  to  work, 
pauperism  of  the  worst  type  would  be  greatly  reduced.  "  Take 
away  casual  labor  and  drink  and  you  can  shut  up  three  quarters 
of  the  workhouses,"  is  one  of  the  strong  statements  in  the 
report  to  which  the  commission  apparently  lent  its  approval.  In 
this  connection  the  commission  called  attention  to  the  extent  to 
which  the  casual  labor  force  was  recruited  from  the  ranks  of 
boys  turned  out  from  the  elementary  schools  without  having  any 
industrial  training. 

The  recommendations  of  the  commission  that  a  system  of 
labor  exchanges  throughout  the  United  Kingdom  be  established, 
that  in  connection  with  these  exchanges  and  with  the  schools 
there  should  be  created  committees  or  agencies  prepared  to  advise 
children  and  their  parents  in  regard  to  the  child's  future  work, 
and  that  a  system  of  unemployment  insurance  be  established,  at 
first  among  the  well  organized  trades,  but  gradually  extended  to 
others,  were  carried  out  in  Parliament  by  the  passage  of  the ' 
Labor  Exchanges  Act,  1909,  and  by  the  adoption  of  Part  II 
(Unemployment)  of  the  National  Insurance  Act,  1911. 

6.  Low  earnings  in  certain  occupations  are  mentioned  by  the 
commission  as  another  cause  of  pauperism,  but  less  emphasis  is 
placed  upon  this  than  upon  some  of  the  others  above  mentioned. 
If,  however,  we  substitute  the  word  poverty  for  that  of  pauper- 
ism we  should  doubtless  find  low  earnings  occupying  a  much 
more  important  place  among  the  contributing  causes.  By  the 
Trade  Boards  Act,  1909,  Parliament  endeavored  to  furnish  a 
means  of  combating  the  evil  of  low  wages  in  the  sweated  trades. 

The  above  mentioned  do  not  exhaust  the  list  of  the  factors 
contributing  directly  or  indirectly  to  a  state  of  dependency,  as 


8  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

revealed  by  the  investigation  of  the  Poor  Law  Commission  of 
1905-1909.  They  do,  however,  constitute  the  most  important 
causes  there  mentioned  and  they  are  the  ones  to  which  Parlia- 
ment primarily  directed  its  attention  during  the  years  which 
intervened  between  the  incoming  of  the  Liberal  ministry  and  the 
outbreak  of  the  war. 

It  would  perhaps  be  a  mistake  to  conclude  that  the  investiga- 
tions and  report  of  the  Poor  Law  Commission  were  mainly 
responsible  for  the  adoption  of  the  program  of  social  legislation 
enacted  by  Parliament  during  these  years.  Many  of  these  reforms 
had  been  urged  for  years  by  social  reformers,  who  based  their 
demands  largely  upon  the  results  obtained  through  such  legisla- 
tion in  other  countries,  particularly  in  Germany  and  the  Austra- 
lasian colonies  of  Great  Britain.  Furthermore,  the  recommenda- 
tions of  the  Poor  Law  Commission  were  frequently  disregarded 
by  Parliament  when  it  came  to  legislate  on  these  matters.  The 
commission  itself  was  not  a  unit  in  its  recommendation  of 
reforms.  A  minority  of  four  members  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  program  of  reforms  submitted  by  the  fourteen  members  who 
constituted  the  majority,  and  this  minority  submitted  a  demand 
for  more  radical  changes  than  those  advocated  by  the  majority 
commissioners.^  The  great  services  of  the  investigation  and 
report  made  by  the  Poor  Law  Commission  were  that  they  made 
clear  the  conditions  existing  among  the  poorer  classes  in  the 
United  Kingdom  in  1909;  that  they  revealed  the  tendencies 
towards  degradation  among  laborers  still  living  above  the  pauper 
line,  and  that,  in  some  cases,  they  pointed  out  the  direction  which 
reform  legislation  should  take. 

The  Trade  Disputes  Act 

The  first  important  labor  measure  which,  having  been  intro- 
duced and  discussed  in  the  House  of  Commons  under  the  control 
of  the  Liberals,  ran  the  gauntlet  of  the  House  of  Lords  and 

1  A  discussion  of  the  entire  subject  from  the  standpoint  of  the  minority 
members  is  found  in  English  Poor  Law  Policy  by  Sidney  and  Beatrice 
Webb.     (London,  1910.) 


THE   SOCIAL   BACKGROUND  9 

received  the  royal  assent  was  the   Trade  Disputes  Act,   1906 
(6  Edw.  7,  c.  47). 

Trade  unions  in  Great  Britain,  which  during  the  early  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  were  deemed  to  be  unlawful  associations 
and  their  members  prosecuted  under  the  conspiracy  laws  for 
having  united  in  restraint  of  trade,  were  legalized  in  1824  and 
their  position  made  more  secure  by  the  Trade  Union  Acts,  1871 
and  1876.  It  was  generally  assumed  that  these  acts,  which  held 
that  trade  unions  were  not  unlawful  combinations,  even  though 
they  restrained  trade,  and  which  relieved  from  prosecution  for 
criminal  conspiracy  members  of  such  unions  who  acted  in  agree- 
ment or  combination  to  further  a  trade  dispute,  had  also  relieved 
the  unions  of  liability  for  damages  suffered  as  a  result  of  a  trade 
dispute  fostered  or  supported  by  the  union  or  its  agents.  In 
1900,  however,  as  a  result  of  a  strike  on  the  Taff  Vale  Railway, 
the  railway  company  brought  suit  against  the  strikers  for  breach 
of  contract  and  also  claimed  damages  from  their  union  (The 
Amalgamated  Society  of  Railway  Servants),  which,  although  it 
had  discountenanced  the  strike,  had  nevertheless  given  the  men 
financial  support.  Mr.  Justice  Farwell,  in  the  High  Court  of 
Justice,  awarded  damages  against  the  union  which,  though  neither 
a  corporation  nor  a  partnership,  was,  he  said,  an  association  of 
individuals  vested  by  the  legislature  with  a  capacity  for  owning 
property  and  acting  by  agents  and  which,  in  the  absence  of  ex- 
press enactment  to  the  contrary,  must  be  held  to  possess  liability 
to  the  extent  of  such  property  for  the  acts  and  defaults  of  its 
agents.  This  judgment  was  disallowed  by  the  Court  of  Appeals, 
but  was  subsequently  sustained  by  the  House  of  Lords,  the  high- 
est British  court,  to  which  the  case  had  been  carried  on  appeal. 

The  danger  to  the  trade  unions  which  this  judgment  threatened 
caused  an  active  agitation  by  the  unions  and  their  friends  to 
secure  legislation  relieving  unions  of  financial  responsibility  for 
acts  done  in  furtherance  of  a  trade  dispute.  More  than  anything 
else  this  agitation  was  responsible  for  that  crystalization  of  radical 
opinions  which  resulted  in  the  creation  of  the  Labor  party.  Even 
the  Conservative  government  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Bal- 
four had  attempted  such  legislation  in  1905,  but  the  bill  intro- 


10  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

duced  by  the  government  was  so  mutilated  in  the  course  of  its 
consideration  in  committee  that  it  was  withdrawn.  Under  Lib- 
eral leadership  the  Trade  Disputes  Act,  1906,  was  brought  for- 
ward early  in  the  next  session,  was  amended  by  the  adoption  of 
a  clause  taken  from  a  more  radical  bill  introduced  by  the  Labor 
members  and,  as  amended,  finally  became  law,  as  hitherto  stated. 
The  act  legalized  peaceful  picketing,  removed  liability  for  acts 
done  in  furtherance  of  a  trade  dispute,  on  the  ground  only  that 
they  induced  other  persons  to  break  a  contract  of  employment  or 
that  they  interfered  with  the  business  or  employment  of  some 
other  person,  and  forbade  any  court  to  entertain  an  action  against 
a  trade  union  in  respect  to  any  tortious  act  alleged  to  have  been 
committed  by  it  or  on  its  behalf.  The  enactment  of  this  measure 
was  probably  largely  responsible  for  the  growth  of  trade  unions 
in  Great  Britain,  whose  aggregate  membership  increased  from 
2,113,806  in  1906  to  3,987,115  in  1913. 

Workmen's  Compensation 

Another  important  piece  of  labor  legislation  enacted  at  the 
1906  session  of  Parliament  was  the  Workmen's  Compensation 
Act,  1906  (6  Edw.  T,  c.  58).  The  principle  of  workmen's 
compensation  as  opposed  to  that  of  employers'  liability,  had  been 
accepted  by  the  British  Parliament  in  1897,  but  the  1897  act  had 
limited  the  right  to  claim  compensation  to  workmen  engaged  in 
the  most  dangerous  occupations  and  had  made  the  payment  of 
compensation  compulsory  only  upon  employers  in  these  trades 
who  were  solvent  or  who  had  insured  themselves  against  the 
risks  to  their  workmen.  In  1900  the  act  had  been  extended  to 
cover  laborers  engaged  in  agriculture  and  gardening,  occupations 
not  generally  believed  to  be  dangerous  callings.  In  1906  the 
government  proposed  further  to  extend  the  principle  of  work- 
men's compensation  to  all  industrial  callings,  but  excluded  from 
its  operation  police-constables,  clerks,  shop  assistants,  domestic 
servants  and  employes  of  employers,  other  than  those  engaged 
in  agriculture,  whose  workmen  did  not  exceed  five  in  number. 
Parliament  refused  to  make  these  exceptions  and  the  act  as 


/ 


THE   SOCIAL   BACKGROUND  11 

passed  covered  workmen  in  all  occupations  except  clerks  and 
salaried  employes  in  receipt  of  salaries  of  £250  or  over.  Small 
as  well  as  large  employers  were  made  liable,  but  insurance  by 
employers  was  not  made  compulsory.  A  certain  degree  of  pro- 
tection was  afforded  to  workmen  whose  employers  might  become 
bankrupt.  The  act  classed  certain  occupational  diseases  as  acci- 
dents, for  which  compensation  was  made  payable,  and  provided 
that  the  Secretary  of  State  might  make  orders  extending  this 
section  of  the  act  to  other  diseases  due  to  the  nature  of  the 
employment.  It  was  estimated  that  the  act  of  1897  had 
afforded  protection  to  6,000,000  workmen,  that  another 
1,000,000  engaged  in  agriculture  were  covered  by  the  1900 
amendment  and  that  the  act  of  1906  brought  another  6,000,000 
people — 13,000,000  in  all — under  the  provisions  of  the  work- 
men's compensation  law.  Further  amendments  to  the  act  were 
made  in  1917  by  the  Workmen's  Compensation  (War  Additions) 
Act/ 

Old  Age  Pensions 

Parliament  next  turned  its  attention  to  the  subject  of  old  age 
pensions.  As  already  stated,  the  agitation  for  old  age  pensions 
had  begun  while  the  Unionists  were  in  control  of  Parliament,  but 
it  had  then  been  coupled  with  certain  proposals  for  fiscal  reform 
which  Parliament  was  unwilling  to  accept.  When  the  Liberals 
came  into  power,  Labor  members  pressed  for  consideration  of  the 
question  of  furnishing  old  age  pensions  from  the  public  funds. 
The  government  at  that  time  lacked  the  necessary  funds,  but 
agreed  to  deal  with  the  matter  later.  In  the  early  part  of  1908 
the  government  introduced  its  bill  for  old  age  pensions.  Oppo- 
nents of  the  measure  sought  delay,  claiming  that  Parliament 
should  wait  until  the  Poor  Law  Commission  had  made  its  report 
and,  when  this  request  was  refused,  they  sought  to  make  the 
measure  unpopular  by  moving  amendments  which,  if  adopted, 
would  add  greatly  to  the  cost  of  the  government's  plan.  The 
Liberals  resisted  all  efforts  to  weaken  their  measure  and  the  bill 
became  a  law  (8  Edw.  7,  c.  40)  on  the  first  day  of  August, 

'^Labour  Gazette.  1917,  p.  313. 


12  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

1908,  the  House  of  Lords,  although  not  friendly  to  the  measure, 
having  accepted  it  as  good  party  tactics. 

The  act  allowed  a  pension  to  be  paid  from  the  public  funds  to 
every  British  subject  resident  within  the  United  Kingdom  for  at 
least  twenty  years  who  had  reached  the  age  of  YO  years  and  whose 
annual  income  did  not  exceed  £31,  10s.  The  amount  of  the  pen- 
sion allowed  varied  according  to  the  yearly  means  of  the  re- 
cipient, but  might  be  not  more  than  5s.  per  week.  No  person  was 
entitled  to  a  pension  (1)  who  was  at  the  time  of  his  application  in 
receipt  of  poor  relief;  (2)  who  had  received  poor  relief  at  any 
time  between  the  dates  of  January  1,  1908,  and  December  31, 
1910;  (3)  who  had  "  habitually  failed  to  work  according  to  his 
ability,  opportunity  and  need  for  the  maintenance  or  benefit  of 
himself  and  those  legally  dependent  upon  him";  (4)  who  was 
being  detained  in  a  lunatic  asylum  or  in  any  place  as  a  pauper  or 
criminal  lunatic;  or  (5)  who  was  disqualified  for  registration  as 
a  parliamentary  elector  in  consequence  of  conviction  for  an 
offense.  A  person  might  also  be  refused  a  pension  while  he  was 
being  detained  in  prison  or  for  a  period  of  ten  years  after  his 
release,  and  the  same  disqualification  might  be  applied  to  any 
person  convicted  and  liable  to  a  detention  order  under  the 
Inebriates  Act,  1908. 

It  was  estimated  in  advance  that  the  number  of  persons  apply- 
ing for  a  pension  in  1909  and  found  entitled  thereto  would 
be  about  386,000  and  that  this  number  would  increase  to  626,000 
in  1912,  chiefly  as  a  result  of  the  expiration  of  the  poor  relief 
disqualification  at  the  end  of  1910.  Even  these  large  estimates 
were  far  below  the  figures  which  experience  showed  to  represent 
the  persons  entitled  to  this  mode  of  assistance.  The  number  of 
pensioners  was  667,000  in  1909  and  942,000  in  1912.  About 
three-fourths  of  the  population  over  70  years  of  age  receive  old 
age  pensions  under  the  act  of  1908.^ 

The  rapid  rise  in  prices  during  the  war  bore  with  especial  sever- 
ity on  the  old  age  pensioners,  and  during  the  year  1916  the 
government  decided  to  make  an  additional  allowance  (not  to 
exceed  2s.  6d.  a  week)  to  any  old  age  pensioner  whose  total  in- 

1  Rubinow :  Social  Insurance,  pp.  378-379. 


THE   SOCIAL   BACKGROUND  13 

come,  including  his  pension,  does  not  exceed  12s,  6d.  a  week.  The 
additional  allowance  is  for  the  period  of  the  war  only.  The 
exact  amount  of  the  addition  in  the  case  of  any  individual  is  left 
to  local  pension  committees  or  subcommittees  to  determine.^ 

Minimum  Wage  Legislation 

The  evil  of  low  earnings  in  the  sweated  trades  was  dealt  with 
by  Parliament,  as  we  have  already  observed,  by  the  Trade 
Boards  Act,  1909  (9  Edw.  7,  c.  22).  In  1907  the  Home  Office 
had  sent  a  commissioner,  Mr.  Ernest  Aves,  to  Australia  and 
New  Zealand,  to  investigate  and  report  on  the  Australasian  legis- 
lation for  dealing  with  this  problem  and  a  bill,  intended  to  estab- 
lish wages  boards  along  Australian  lines,  which  should  fix  a  mini- 
mum wage  for  workers  in  each  one  of  certain  sweated  trades,  had 
been  introduced  in  Parliament  in  1908  and  after  discussion  had 
been  referred  to  the  Select  Committee  on  Home  Work. 

On  March  24,  1909,  Mr.  Winston  Churchill  introduced  the 
government  measure  which  provided  for  the  establishment  of  a 
Trade  Board  composed  of  representatives  of  the  employers  and 
employes  in  the  trade,  in  equal  numbers,  and  of  a  lesser  number 
of  appointed  members  to  look  after  the  public  interests  involved, 
in  each  of  four  trades,  ready  made  and  wholesale  bespoke  tailor- 
ing, paper  box  making,  machine  made  lace  making  and  hammered 
and  dollied  or  tommied  chain  making.  These  trades  were  among 
those  in  which  large  numbers  of  women  were  employed  and  in 
which  investigations  had  shown  that  very  low  wages,  long  hours 
and  bad  working  conditions  generally  prevailed.  The  Trade 
Board  was  to  fix  a  minimum  rate  of  wages  for  the  trade  which  it 
represented  and  might  also  fix  minimum  rates  of  wages  for  piece 
work,  and  these  minimum  wages  and  rates  when  made  obligatory 
by  an  order  of  the  Board  of  Trade  were  to  be  binding  on  all 
employers  in  that  trade.  In  order  that  all  localities  in  which  the 
trade  in  question  was  being  carried  on  might  have  their  peculiar 
circumstances  considered  by  the  board,  any  board  was  author- 

1  Monthly  Review  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  July,  1917,  pp. 
34-35. 


14  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

ized  to  establish  district  trade  committees,  constituted  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  board  itself,  to  consider  these  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances and  to  recommend  local  variations  in  the  general 
minimum  wage  adopted  by  the  board.  The  minimum  wage  and 
piece  rates  were  to  be  paid  to  home  workers  as  well  as  to  those 
employed  in  factories  and  heavy  fines  were  provided  for  employ- 
ers who  failed  to  pay  these  minimum  rates.  Provision  was  made 
for  extending  the  operations  of  the  act  by  order  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  to  any  industry  in  which  the  prevailing  rate  of  wages  was 
"  exceptionally  low  as  compared  to  that  in  other  employments." 
In  1913,  accordingly,  the  act  was  extended  to  the  following 
additional  trades:  sugar  confectionery  and  food  preserving, 
shirt  making,  hollow-ware  making  and  cotton  and  linen  embroid- 
ery. About  400,000  workers  were  employed  in  the  trades  covered 
by  the  original  act  and  the  extension  order,  and  were  directly  or 
indirectly  aflFected  by  the  minimum  rates  of  wages  established. 

Although  the  trades  which  have  been  selected  for  the  operation 
of  the  minimum  wage  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  are  those 
in  which  women  constitute  the  majority  of  employes,  the  mini- 
mum wages  and  rates  apply  to  men  as  well  as  to  women  workers. 
Furthermore,  in  order  to  settle  a  strike  in  the  coal  mines  occurring 
in  the  spring  of  1912,  an  act  was  passed  that  year  which  provided 
wages  boards  to  fix  minimum  wages  and  working  conditions  in 
the  coal  mining  industry. 

A  few  months  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  1914,  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  had  proposed 
the  establishment  of  a  commission  to  fix  minimum  rates  of  wages 
for  agricultural  laborers  and  had  further  stated  that  the  govern- 
ment was  considering  the  extension  of  the  wages  boards  system 
to  all  the  lower  paid  industries  in  the  towns.  Although  the  out- 
break of  the  war  postponed  further  consideration  of  these  pro- 
posals, they  indicate  that  the  principle  of  a  legal  minimum  wage 
had  met  with  acceptance  in  government  circles  and  this  partly 
explains  the  willingness  of  the  government  to  make  use  of  this 
principle  w'hen  later  it  was  called  upon  to  regulate  the  manufac- 
ture of  munitions.  As  we  shall  later  see,  a  minimum  wage  was 
provided  for  agricultural  labor  in  1917.    The  Trade  Boards  Act, 


THE   SOCIAL   BACKGROUND  15 

1918,  gave  authority  to  the  Minister  of  Labor  to  extend  the 
provisions  of  the  act  of  1909  to  other  low  paid  trades. 

Housing  Legislation 

When  the  census  of  1901  was  taken  in  Great  Britain  the 
Census  Commissioners  discovered  that  2,667,000  or  8.2  per  cent 
of  the  population  of  England  and  Wales  were  living  in  392,000 
overcrowded  tenements.  Two-thirds  of  the  people  of  London 
were  living  in  dwellings  having  not  more  than  four  rooms  each. 
In  Glasgow  one-fifth  of  the  population  lived  in  one  room  dwell- 
ings and  more  than  half  of  the  people  had  houses  of  not  more 
than  two  rooms  each.^  Every  industrial  city  in  the  United  King- 
dom showed  housing  conditions  differing  from  the  above 
only  in  degree;  conditions  which  were  the  product  of  the  rapid 
growth  of  municipalities,  high  rents,  land  speculation  and  failure 
to  realize  the  connection  between  bad  living  conditions  and  vice, 
crime  and  disease. 

Some  improvement  in  the  housing  situation  in  the  large  cities 
had  been  effected  by  the  Housing  of  the  Working  Classes  Act  of 
1890,  but  more  drastic  reforms  were  needed  and  these  were 
attempted  by  the  Housing,  Town  Planning,  etc..  Act,  1909  (9 
Edw.  7,  c.  44).  This  act  made  it  compulsory  upon  local  authori- 
ties to  provide  new  houses  when  ordered  to  do  so  by  the  Local 
Government  Board,  authorized  the  local  authorities  to  purchase 
land  compulsorily  for  such  purposes  and  provided  for  loans 
from  the  public  funds  to  local  authorities,  at  minimum  rates  of 
interest,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  carry  out  the  orders  of  the 
Local  Government  Board.  It  also  provided  that  in  any  house, 
let  at  low  or  moderate  rentals,  an  implied  part  of  the  contract 
should  be  a  requirement  on  the  part  of  the  landlord  to  put  the 
house  in  a  condition  "  in  all  respects  reasonably  fit  for  human 
habitation,"  and  to  keep  it  in  such  condition  during  the  period 
of  the  lease.  The  duty  was  placed  upon  the  local  authorities  to 
prohibit  the  use  for  dwelling  purposes  of  any  house  deemed  by 
the  local  medical  authorities  to  be  so  dangerous  to  health  as  to  be 

1  Percy  Alden :  Democratic  England,  p.  170. 


16  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

unfit  for  human  habitation,  and  upon  refusal  of  the  local  author- 
ity to  act,  an  appeal  might  be  taken  to  the  Local  Government 
Board.  Houses  closed  because  of  improper  conditions,  which 
were  not  or  could  not  be  made  fit  for  human  habitation  within 
a  reasonable  length  of  time,  might  be  ordered  demolished  by  the 
local  authorities. 

Precautions  were  taken  to  see  that  land  needed  for  parks  and 
open  spaces  in  towns  was  not  used  for  building  purposes  and 
every  local  authority  included  under  the  terms  of  the  act  was 
required  to  adopt  a  town  planning  scheme  which  had  the  approval 
of  the  Local  Government  Board  and  to  see  that  further  city  or 
town  developments  were  carried  out  in  accordance  with  this 
scheme.  Every  County  Council  was  required  to  appoint  a  medi- 
cal officer  of  health,  who  was  not  to  engage  in  private  practice, 
but  who,  under  the  supervision  of  the  County  Council  and  the 
Local  Government  Board,  was  required  to  perform  such  duties  as 
were  prescribed  by  order  of  the  Local  Government  Board  or 
were  assigned  to  him  by  the  County  Council.  Every  County 
Council  was  also  to  have  a  public  health  and  housing  committee 
to  consider  matters  relating  to  public  health  and  the  housing  of 
the  working  classes  and  to  exercise  such  authority  as  was  dele- 
gated to  them  by  the  County  Council.  The  erection  of  back  to 
back  houses  was  prohibited  unless  such  houses  were  so  con- 
structed and  arranged  as  to  secure  effective  ventilation  of  all 
rooms  and  were  so  certified  by  the  local  officer  of  health. 

Parliamentary  leaders  recognized  that  no  housing  reform  which 
concerned  itself  merely  with  matters  of  construction  and  sanita- 
tion could  remedy  the  evils  of  overcrowding  in  the  cities,  so  long 
as  the  problem  of  land  monopoly  was  unsolved.  One  must  con- 
sider, therefore,  as  supplemental  to  the  Housing,  Town  Planning, 
etc.,  Act,  1909,  those  parts  of  the  Finance  Act,  1910  (10  Edw.  7, 
c.  8),  which  deal  with  taxes  on  the  increment  value  of  land 
and  with  the  undeveloped  land  duties.  These  were  intended,  as 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  said  in  his  budget  speech  of  1909,  to  force 
urban  land  withheld  from  use  or  not  put  to  the  best  use,  into  the 
market  where  it  could  be  sold  for  housing  or  industrial  purposes. 
The  House  of  Lords  rejected  this  budget  when  it  was  first  pre- 


THE   SOCIAL    BACKGROUND  17 

sented  in  1909,  but  when  the  appeal  to  the  country  in  1910  led 
to  the  return  of  the  Liberals,  the  Lords  yielded  and  the  Finance 
Act  became  a  law  on  April  29,  1910. 

Little  was  accomplished  in  the  way  of  providing  better  housing 
facilities  for  the  laboring  classes  during  the  years  1909-1914, 
due,  it  is  said,  to  the  failure  of  the  Local  Government  Board  to 
exercise  the  powers  conferred  upon  it.  What  little  was  done 
proved  woefully  insufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  many  munici- 
palities, especially  those  in  which  the  manufacture  of  munitions 
has  been  extensively  carried  on  during  the  war.  Further  legisla- 
tion has  been  found  necessary  and  still  further  laws  and  govern- 
mental assistance  may  be  necessary  to  solve  the  problem. 

The  Relief  of  Unemployment 

Unemployment  was  the  one  cause  of  pauperism  on  which  the 
majority  report  of  the  Poor  Law  Commission  laid  especial 
emphasis.  Parliamentary  legislation  followed  more  closely  the 
recommendations  of  the  commission  with  respect  to  this  evil 
than  it  did  in  other  matters  which  we  have  considered.  By 
the  Labor  Exchange  Act,  1909  (9  Edw.  7,  c.  7),  the  Board  of 
Trade  was  authorized  to  establish  and  maintain  labor  exchanges 
throughout  the  United  Kingdom  in  such  numbers  and  at  such 
places  as  in  their  judgment  were  needed  to  facilitate  the  securing 
of  employment  by  those  out  of  work  and  to  furnish  laborers  to 
employers  having  need  of  them.  Under  this  act  the  Board  of 
Trade  established  several  hundred  exchanges,  there  being  over 
four  hundred  in  existence  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  The  entire 
management  of  these  exchanges  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  (later  under  the  Ministry  of  Labor),  which  was 
also  authorized  to  make  advances  in  the  shape  of  loans  towards 
meeting  the  expenses  of  laborers  who  were  sent  to  distant  places 
where  employment  had  been  found  for  them  through  a  labor 
exchange.  About  three  and  one  quarter  millions  of  applications 
for  employment  were  made  by  laborers  to  the  exchanges  in  the 
year  1914  and  employers  notified  the  exchanges  of  1,425,000 
vacancies.     The  vacancies   which  were  actually  filled  by  the 


18  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

exchanges  during  this  year  were  1,076,575,  which  was  76  per 
cent  of  the  vacancies  notified  by  employers. 

Especial  efforts  have  been  made  by  the  Board  of  Trade  under 
authority  of  the  Labor  Exchange  Act  to  assist  boys  and  girls  in 
finding  employment  in  occupations  which  will  enable  them  to 
learn  a  useful  trade,  and  the  same  effort  has  been  made  by  educa- 
tional authorities  under  the  Education  Act.  Although  the  cor- 
relation of  the  work  of  these  two  branches  of  the  government 
service  leaves  much  to  be  desired,  considerable  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  way  of  advising  and  assisting  juvenile  laborers  to 
secure  employment. 

The  third  step  in  affording  relief  for  the  unemployed  was 
taken  in  1911.  Part  II  of  the  National  Insuraiice  Act,  1911, 
provided  for  the  compulsory  insurance  of  workers  in  seven  trades : 
(1)  building,  (2)  construction  of  works,  (3)  shipbuilding,  (4) 
mechanical  engineering,  (5)  ironfounding,  (6)  construction  of 
vehicles,  and  (7)  sawmilling.  These  trades  are  generally  well 
organized,  but  much  unemployment  exists  because  of  seasonal 
and  cyclical  fluctuations.  Under  the  act  as  adopted,  unemployed 
benefits  amounting  to  7s.  per  week  were  allowed  to  those  un- 
employed in  these  trades.  These  benefits  could  only  be  drawn 
when  work  could  not  be  found  for  men  through  the  labor 
exchanges  and  in  no  case  could  unemployed  benefits  be  received 
by  any  man  for  a  longer  period  than  fifteen  weeks  in  any  one 
year.  The  benefits  were  paid  from  an  insurance  fund  created  by 
weekly  contributions  of  2/4  d.  from  employers  and  2^2  d.  from 
employes  while  they  remained  at  work.  In  addition  to  these 
contributions  the  government  contributed  one-third  of  the  com- 
bined contributions  of  employer  and  employe.  The  act  provided 
that  trade  unions  which  paid  out  of  work  benefits  to  their  mem- 
bers might  continue  to  do  this  and  could  then  claim  repayment 
from  the  public  funds  up  to  the  amount  which  the  men  would  be 
entitled  to  draw  had  they  applied  for  benefits  to  the  labor 
exchange. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  labor  exchanges  provided  by  the 
act  of  1909,  which  assist  in  the  administration  of  the  act,  the  act 
provided  for  a  number  of  insurance  offices  so  located  that  one 


THE   SOCIAL    BACKGROUND  19 

would  be  within  five  miles  of  every  considerable  group  of  work- 
ers in  the  kingdom  and  the  insured  man  out  of  work  might  leave 
his  insurance  book  at  the  nearest  office,  in  which  case  he  was 
entitled  to  the  payment  of  benefits  during  the  period  for  which 
no  work  was  found  for  him. 

The  benefits  were  intended  to  be  sufficient  to  prevent  actual 
suffering,  but  were  purposely  kept  low  in  order  not  to  deter  the 
beneficiaries  from  seeking  work.  No  benefits  were  paid  under 
the  act  during  the  first  week  of  unemployment.  In  order  to  be 
eligible  to  receive  unemployed  benefits  a  worker  must  be  unable  to 
find  work  at  his  trade  and  he  must  not  refuse  suitable  work  which 
was  found  for  him  by  a  labor  exchange,  but  he  was  not  compelled 
to  take  work  where  a  trade  dispute  was  in  progress  nor  was  he 
obliged  to  accept  less  than  the  current  rate  of  wages  for  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  was  at  work. 

Under  the  operations  of  this  act,  in  1913  about  two  and  one- 
half  million  workers  were  insured  and  nearly  a  half  million 
pounds  sterling  were  paid  out  in  the  way  of  benefits  to  those 
unemployed  during  portions  of  that  year. 

Although  the  compulsory  features  of  this  part  of  the  National 
Insurance  Act  were  made  applicable  for  the  time  being  only  to 
workers  in  the  trades  indicated,  it  was  the  intention  of  the  framers 
of  the  act  that  these  provisions  should  be  extended  as  rapidly  as 
possible  to  workers  in  other  trades,  and  in  order  that  this  might 
be  done,  the  administrative  authorities  were  authorized  to  extend 
the  system  whenever  they  found  it  needful  and  practicable  to  do 
so.  As  we  shall  later  see,  Parliament  itself,  in  1916,  provided  for 
the  extension  of  the  unemployment  features  of  the  act  to  workers 
in  the  munition  trades  and  to  certain  other  closely  allied  trades. 

The  Health  Insurance  Act 

The  last  of  the  important  pieces  of  social  legislation  enacted  by 
Parliament  in  the  decade  preceding  the  war  to  which  we  desire  to 
call  attention  was  the  National  Insurance  Act,  1911.  Part  II 
of  this  act  dealing  with  unemployed  insurance  we  have  just  con- 
sidered.   Part  I  of  the  act  provided  for  the  compulsory  insurance 


20  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

against  sickness  and  invalidity  of  all  manual  laborers  between  the 
ages  of  IG  and  70  and  for  persons  not  employed  at  manual  labor 
whose  annual  earnings  were  less  than  £160.  The  act  even  in- 
cluded casual  workers  and  home  workers.  The  benefits  under  the 
act  in  case  of  sickness  included  not  only  cash  benefits  but  medical 
care.  No  cash  benefits  were  to  be  paid  for  the  first  three  days 
of  illness  and  in  no  case  were  they  to  be  paid  for  more  than 
twenty-six  weeks  in  any  one  year.  The  cash  benefits  allowed  were 
10s.  a  week  for  men  and  7s.  6d.  a  week  for  women.  Hospital 
care  was  provided  for  in  cases  where  it  should  be  found  neces- 
sary. The  invalidity  benefits  were  to  consist  of  weekly  payments 
of  5s,  a  week  during  incapacity,  but  these  benefits  were  to  cease 
at  the  age  of  70,  when  the  beneficiaries  would  be  entitled  to  old 
age  pensions. 

The  cost  of  this  extensive  system  of  sickness  and  invalidity 
insurance  was  to  be  divided  between  employer,  employes  and  the 
state.  Except  in  the  case  of  those  workers  who  received  unusu- 
ally low  wages,  men  employes  were  to  pay  4d.  and  women  em- 
ployes 3d.  per  week.  The  employer  was  to  pay  3d.  and  the  state 
2d.  per  week.  For  employes  whose  wages  were  less  than  2s. 
6d.  a  day  the  workers'  contributions  were  to  be  lessened  and 
those  of  the  employer  and  the  state  increased.  Special  benefits 
were  to  be  paid  under  this  act  both  to  insured  women  and  to  the 
wives  of  insured  men  at  times  of  childbirth.  The  benefits 
granted  to  the  wives  of  insured  men  were  30s.,  and  in  case  of 
women  wage  earners,  an  additional  30s.  might  be  paid.  These 
benefits  were  intended  to  make  it  possible  for  the  beneficiaries  to 
refrain  from  work  for  several  weeks  during  confinement.  Nearly 
14,000,000  persons  in  the  United  Kingdom  were  insured  under 
the  terms  of  this  act  during  the  first  year  of  its  operation,  1912-13. 

Effect  of  Social  Legislation  upon  Problems  of  the  War 

This  rapid  sketch  of  important  social  legislation  enacted  in 
Great  Britain  during  the  ten  years  preceding  the  outbreak  of 
war  will  sufifice  to  show  that,  however  poorly  prepared  for  war 
the  country  may  have  been  from  a  military  point  of  view,  it  had 


THE    SOCIAL   BACKGROUND  21 

enacted  legislation  which  had  the  effect  of  providing  a  consid- 
erable measure  of  protection  to  the  working  classes,  and  this 
legislation  has  unquestionably  made  easier  the  task  of  meeting 
the  domestic  problems  which  have  arisen  during  the  war.  It  is 
true  that  the  laws  have  been  too  recently  enacted  to  have  exerted 
any  considerable  effect  in  building  up  the  health,  strength  and 
vitality  of  the  existing  generation  of  workers  so  as  to  fit  them 
for  military  service,  as  has  been  the  case  in  Germany,  where  laws 
of  a  similar  character  have  been  in  operation  for  nearly  a  genera- 
tion. Nevertheless,  the  English  social  legislation  can  not  be 
overlooked  as  an  important  factor  in  helping  to  solve  the  social 
problems  which  have  grown  out  of  the  war.  The  evils  which  the 
laws  were  intended  to  overcome  were  not  of  course  those  origi- 
nating in  military  operations,  but  since  those  laws  made  it  easier 
for  the  country  to  adjust  itself  to  a  war  basis  and  to  prevent  or 
relieve  distress  growing  out  of  the  unusual  activities  of  the  war 
period,  they  must  be  considered  in  any  attempt  to  describe  the 
social  conditions  which  have  prevailed  during  the  war.  Some  of 
them,  like  the  workmen's  compensation  and  the  unemployment 
insurance  laws,  have  been  modified  to  meet  the  new  conditions 
growing  out  of  the  war.  All  of  these  laws  will  doubtless  show 
themselves  to  be  of  even  greater  use  in  that  period  when  the 
country  changes  from  a  war  to  a  peace  basis,  and  when  the  prob- 
lems of  industrial  readjustment  will  be  unusually  difficult  to  meet. 


CHAPTER  II 
English  Industry  and  Labor  at  the  Outbreak  of  the  War 

Unemployment  Statistics 

The  outbreak  of  the  war  found  most  British  industries  in  a 
highly  prosperous  condition.  Employment  had  been  good  for 
three  and  a  half  years,  having  attained  its  maximum  during  the 
first  half  of  1913.  Although  there  had  been  a  contraction  after 
that  time,  conditions  were  still  good  at  the  end  of  July,  1914. 
Trade  unions,  having  a  net  membership  of  988,946  in  July, 
reported  that  only  28,013  or  2.8  per  cent  of  their  members  were 
unemployed  at  the  end  of  that  month. ^  This  is  to  be  compared 
with  a  mean  percentage  of  four  for  the  month  of  July  for  fifteen 
years,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  years  1912  (2.6  per  cent) 
and  1913  (1.9  per  cent),  it  is  lower  than  for  the  same  month  in 
any  year  since  1900.^ 

In  coal  mining  710,453  persons  were  employed  in  July,  work- 
ing an  average  of  5,06  days  a  week.  This,  after  allowing  for  the 
July  holidays,  is  a  record  which  compares  favorably  with  the  high 
level  of  1913,  when  the  average  number  of  days  worked  per  week 
was  5.58,  "  the  highest  yearly  average  recorded."  ^  As  compared 
to  July,  1913,  when  an  average  of  5.26  days  were  worked,  the 
reduction  was  only  two-tenths  of  one  per  cent.* 

In  what  are  known  as  the  "  insured  trades  "  (those  in  which, 
under  Part  II  of  the  National  Insurance  Act,  1911,  benefits  are 
paid  to  unemployed  workers),  where  the  number  of  insured 
workmen  amounted  to  2,325,598  in  July,  1914,  the  unemployed 
at  the  end  of  that  month  amounted  to  only  83,412  or  3.6  per  cent, 

^Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  281. 

^Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics  of  the  United  Kingdom,  1915, 
p.  6. 

3  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  pp.  3,  282. 

*Ibid.,  p.  282;  Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics,  1915,  p.  10. 

22 


ENGLISH    INDUSTRY   AND   LABOR  23 

which  is  just  about  the  mean  per  cent  for  the  eighteen  months 
ending  in  July  ^ — a  very  prosperous  period  for  these  trades. 

The  most  notable  exception  to  the  generally  good  conditions 
of  employment  was  that  of  the  textile  trades.  The  very  incom- 
plete returns  from  the  firms  which  report  to  the  Board  of  Trade 
showed  a  decline  in  the  number  of  work  people  employed  on  July 
25,  1914,  amounting  to  1.8  per  cent  of  those  employed  the  closing 
week  of  July,  1913.^  All  of  these  trades,  with  the  exception  of 
hosiery,  participated  in  this  decline  which,  while  not  remarkable 
in  itself,  owes  its  significance  to  the  fact  that  these  trades  (except- 
ing woolen  and  hosiery)  were  the  ones  which  were  chiefly  affected 
by  the  industrial  depression  which  accompanied  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  Unemployment  due  to  the  war  was  therefore  super- 
imposed upon  a  certain  degree  of  involuntary  idleness  which  had 
already  existed  in  these  trades  during  times  of  peace. 

The  figures  relating  to  employment  are  not  the  only  ones  which 
tend  to  show  the  prosperous  conditions  of  labor  and  industry  dur- 
ing the  years  and  months  immediately  preceding  the  outbreak  of 
the  war. 

Production  of  Leading  Commodities 

The  production  in  Great  Britain  of  coal,  iron  ore,  salt,  tin 
ore,  steel  ingots  and  puddled  iron  bars,  measured  in  tons,  was 
greater  in  1913  than  for  any  previous  year,^  and  the  same  is  true 
of  the  tonnage  of  merchant  ships  launched.^  Foreign  trade  sta- 
tistics, which  are  always  considered  a  barometer  of  English  indus- 
trial conditions,  showed  that  the  total  value  of  imports  into  the 
United  Kingdom  for  1913  was  £769,034,000,  which  represented 
an  increase  of  3.3  per  cent  over  the  figures  for  1912  and  13.1 
per  cent  over  those  for  1911.* 

The  total  value  of  British  and  Irish  exports  was  £525,461,000 
for  1913,  which  was  an  increase  over  those  for  1912  of  7.8  per 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  282. 

^Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics  of  the  United  Kingdom,  pp. 
30-36. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  37. 
*  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  35. 


24  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

cent  and  over  those  for  1911  of  15,7  per  cent/  Although  the  year 
1914  did  not  maintain  this  record,  the  decline  during  the  seven 
months  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  war  was  not  considerable, 
amounting  in  the  case  of  imports  to  only  1,2  per  cent  of  the 
imports  for  the  corresponding  months  of  1913,  and  in  the  case 
of  exports  to  1.4  per  cent  of  the  amount  exported  during  the  first 
seven  months  of  1913.^ 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Prices 

This  prosperous  state  of  affairs  in  industry  was  quickly  re- 
flected in  both  the  wholesale  and  the  retail  prices  of  commodities. 
The  index  numbers  of  wholesale  prices  contained  in  the  report 
on  Cost  of  Living  of  the  Working  Classes  and  continued  by  the 
Department  of  Labor  Statistics  of  the  Board  of  Trade  applies 
to  47  commodities,  weighted  in  accordance  with  their  estimated 
consumption  representing  all  classes  of  production.  The  year 
1900  was  taken  as  the  basis-100.  The  weighted  index  number 
for  the  forty-seven  commodities  considered  collectively  showed 
a  steady  increase  after  1908  and  in  1913  amounted  to  116.5.' 
Retail  prices  showed  a  similar  advance.  The  index  numbers  of 
twenty-three  articles,  widely  used  by  the  laboring  classes,  were 
obtained  by  weighing  the  percentage  for  these  articles  in  accord- 
ance with  the  average  expenditure  on  these  articles  by  working 
class  families  in  1904.  Measured  in  this  way,  prices  were  114,8 
per  cent  in  1913  and  116,8  per  cent  in  1914,  as  compared  to  100 
per  cent  in  1900.  The  advance  was  even  greater  than  this  in  the 
case  of  bread,  flour  and  the  cereals,  for  imported  meats  and  also 
for  eggs  and  cheese.* 

Changes  in  Wages  and  Cost  of  Living 

If  we  turn  now  to  consider  the  changes  which  had  taken  place 
in  wages  during  these  years  of  advancing  prices,  we  shall  see 
that  the  British  working  classes  had  not  shared  to  the  full  extent 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p,  35. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  315-316. 

^Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics,  1915,  p,  88. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  102. 


ENGLISH    INDUSTRY    AND   LABOR  25 

in  the  prosperity  which  had  overtaken  industry.  The  index 
number  for  wages  of  skilled  or  semi-skilled  workers  in  various 
trades  and  for  agricultural  laborers  shows  an  advance  from  the 
base  100  in  1900  to  106.5  for  1913,  when  all  groups  of  workers 
are  considered  collectively.  For  agricultural  workers  the  corres- 
ponding numbers  for  these  years  are  100-111.2 ;  for  textile  work- 
ers, 100-111.6;  for  workers  in  the  engineering  trades,  100-105; 
for  those  in  the  building  trades,  100-104.4  and  for  coal  miners, 
100-100.1.^  When  these  advances  are  compared  with  the 
greater  increase  in  the  retail  prices  of  most  commodities  con- 
sumed by  the  laboring  classes,  it  will  be  seen  that  wages 
measured  in  purchasing  power  had  actually  declined  during  these 
years.  Such  a  statement,  however,  takes  no  account  of  the  , 
greater  steadiness  of  employment  during  prosperous  years  and  it/ 
would  probably  not  be  true  to  state  that  the  average  earnings  of 
the  British  laborer,  measured  either  in  money  or  in  commodities, 
were  less  in  1913  or  the  first  half  of  1914  than  they  were  during 
the  early  years  of  the  century.  Some  further  compensation  for 
the  failure  of  wages  to  rise  as  rapidly  as  prices  is  also  found  in 
the  fact  that  in  all  trades  and  industries  the  number  of  hours 
worked  per  week  shows  a  steady,  though  by  no  means  a  uniform, 
reduction.^ 

According  to  calculations  made  for  the  report  on  the  Cost  of 
Living  of  the  Working  Classes,  rents  of  working  class  dwellings 
in  London  had  declined  in  London  by  percentages  varying  from 
2  to  6  according  to  the  location,  and  had  increased  in  other  towns 
and  cities  by  percentages  varying  from  0.7  to  4.3,  according  to 
the  county.^  When  rents  and  retail  prices  of  food  and  coal  were 
combined,  the  mean  percentage  increase  in  the  cost  of  living, 
between  1905  and  1912,  measured  in  this  way  varied  from  about 
8  in  London  and  the  southern  counties  to  2.9  in  Wales  and 
Monmouthshire,  10.9  in  Scotland  and  12.2  in  Ireland.' 

Other  tests  of  the  prosperity  of  the  working  classes,  frequently 
applied,  although  not  entirely  satisfactory,  are  found  in  the  statis- 

^  Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics,  1915,  p.  66. 
2  Ibid.,  pp.  79-82. 
»Ibid.,  p.  122. 


26  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

tics  of  savings  bank  deposits  and  of  the  number  of  pauper  de- 
pendents. For  the  United  Kingdom  there  had  been  a  steady  in- 
crease in  the  deposits  in  the  post  office  savings  banks  since  1899, 
when  they  amounted  to  £130,118,605.  By  1913  they  had  reached 
a  total  of  £187,248,167.  The  corresponding  figures  for  the  trus- 
tee savings  banks  were  £51,404,929  in  1899  and  £54,258,861  in 
1913.^  Possibly  a  better  test  of  the  extent  to  which  the  popula- 
tion in  general  shared  in  these  deposits  is  found  in  the  number  of 
accounts  open,  which  in  the  case  of  the  post  office  savings  banks 
were  8,046,680  in  1899  and  13,198,609  in  1913,  and  in  the  case 
of  trustee  savings  banks  were  1,601,485  in  1899  and  1,912,816 
in  1913." 

Reduction  of  Pauperism 

The  statistics  of  paupers  show  that,  exclusive  of  vagrants  and 
insane  persons,  the  mean  number  of  indoor  and  outdoor  paupers 
in  England  and  Wales  had  reached  its  maximum  in  1909,  when 
it  was  793,851,  being  a  ratio  of  22.6  per  10,000  of  the  estimated 
population.  By  1914  the  mean  number^  had  fallen  to  617,128, 
a  ratio  of  16.7  per  10,000.  To  a  slight  extent  this  reduction  of 
number  is  due  to  the  fact  that  in  1911  a  number  of  paupers  ceased 
to  be  dependent  on  poor  relief  in  consequence  of  the  partial 
removal  of  the  pauper  disqualification  from  old  age  pensioners.* 

Much  more  indicative  of  the  changes  which  had  taken  place 
for  the  better  in  the  condition  of  the  wage  earners  is  the  falling 
off  in  the  work  of  the  local  distress  committees  which  under  the 
Unemployed  Workmen  Act,  1905,  are  "  empowered  to  provide 
or  contribute  to  the  provision  of  work  for  unemployed  persons."  * 

During  the  industrial  depression  of  1908-09,  when  unem- 
ployment had  reached  a  stage  of  intensity  not  since  attained 
(except  for  a  very  brief  period  in  1912),  these  distress  commit- 
tees in  Great  Britain  were  very  busy  in  receiving  and  acting  on 

1  Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics,  pp.  326-327. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  328. 

3  As  the  mean  number  is  the  mean  of  the  numbers  relieved  on  January  1 
of  the  year  given  and  of  July  1  preceding,  it  is  clear  that  the  1914  figures  are 
unaffected  by  war. 

*  Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics,  p.  331. 
5  The  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  31. 


ENGLISH    INDUSTRY   AND   LABOR  27 

applications  for  relief  by  working  men  who  were  temporarily  out 
of  work.  The  following  table  ^  offers  a  comparison  of  the  work 
of  these  committees  for  1908-09  and  for  1913-14,  during  which 
period  there  had  been  a  steady  decline  in  the  work  and  relief 
found  necessary  by  them.  The  figures  are  given  for  England, 
Wales  and  Scotland  considered  collectively,  although  the  dates 
returns  were  made  are  not  the  same  for  all  these  countries : 

WORK  OF  DISTRESS  COMMITTEES 

1908-09  1913-14 
Number  of  committees  who  received  applications  at 

some  time  during  the  year 138  62 

Number  of  applications  received 230,807  25,343 

Number  of  apphcations  considered  eligible 159,303  17,205 

Number  of  applicants  provided  with  work 104,344  10,389 

Number  of  persons  assisted  to  emigrate 11,142  1,950 

"Number  of  persons  assisted  to  move  to  another  area            457  131 

Cost  of  work  provided £324,779  i75,220 

Total  expenditure   £419,081  £124,380 

Labor  and  Industrial  Organizations 

One  other  set  of  facts  needs  to  be  given  to  complete  the  picture 
of  indu'strial  and  labor  conditions  in  Great  Britain  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war.  This  relates  to  the  growth  and  strength  of  the  trade" y 
union  movement.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  trade  unions  in- 
crease in  numbers  and  financial  strength  during  years  of  indus- 
trial prosperity  and  generally  show  a  diminution  in  the  number 
of  members  in  good  standing  during  years  of  industrial 
depression  and  unemployment.  The  membership  of  British  trade 
unions  had  with  few  fluctuations  shown  a  steady  increase  during 
the  fifteen  years  ending  with  1913. 

In  1899  the  number  of  trade  unions,  exclusive  of  a  few  unim- 
portant ones  for  which  the  figures  were  not  available,  was  1,310 
and  their  combined  membership  was  1,860,913.  By  1913  the 
number  of  unions  had  fallen  to  1,135,  chiefly  as  a  result  of 
amalgamation,  but  the  total  membership  had  more  than  doubled, 

*  Compiled  from  the  annual  reports  on  distress  committees  issued  by 
the  local  government  boards  for  England  and  Wales  and  for  Scotland. 
Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics  for  United  Kingdom,  16th  (1913),  p.  36;  17th 
(1915),  p.  28. 


28  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

being  3,993,769  at  the  close  of  that  year.^  This  was  an  increase 
of  21.5  per  cent  over  the  membership  for  1912.  "  This  member- 
ship," said  a  writer  in  the  Labour  Gazette,^  "  is  greatly  in  excess 
of  any  hitherto  recorded,  and  the  rate  of  increase  is  little  below 
the  high  rate  of  1911  (23.4  per  cent).  The  expansion  in  mem- 
bership was  common  to  practically  all  trades,  but  was  especially 
marked  in  the  transport  and  general  labor  groups.  Some  of  the 
increase  is  attributable  to  trade  union  activity  in  connection  with 
the  National  Insurance  Act." 

"  The  total  membership,"  the  writer  goes  on  to  say,  "  of  all 
trade  unions  in  1913  increased  by  109  per  cent  compared 
with  1904  and  by  175.1  per  cent  compared  with  1895,  when  the 
membership  was  lower  than  at  any  time  during  the  period  1892- 
1913,  for  which  the  Department  has  comparable  statistics."  ' 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  connected  with  this  move- 
ment was  the  increase  in  the  number  of  female  members.  Their 
numbers  had  grown  from  129,084  in  1904  to  318,607  in  1913, 
an  increase  of  176.4  per  cent.  "  Nearly  three  quarters  (258,732) 
of  the  total  female  membership  were  engaged  in  the  textile  trades, 
the  cotton  industry  accounting  for  212,534  or  60  per  cent."  ^ 

In  discussing  the  strength  of  trade  unionism  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  mention  should  be  made  of  the  Triple  Alliance  of  trade 
unions  formed  in  1914  between  the  Miners'  Federation,  repre- 
senting 800,000  workers,  the  National  Union  of  Railway  Men, 
with  a  membership  of  300,000,  and  the  Transport  Workers' 
Federation,  comprising  250,000  workers.  The  purpose  of 
the  alliance  was  to  take  joint  action  on  matters  of  a  national 
character  or  those  vitally  affecting  a  principle  which  necessitated 
combined  action. 

The  significance  of  the  federation  lay  in  the  fact  that  all  three 
of  these  powerful  organizations  are  formed  along  industrial  lines, 
that  they  represent  the  workers  in  industries  in  which  the  public 
is  vitally  affected  and  that  syndicalist  views  have  permeated  more 
or  less  the  rank  and  file  of  the  membership. 

^Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics,  1915,  p.  197. 

2  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  282. 

3  Ibid.,  1914,  p.  283. 


ENGLISH    INDUSTRY    AND    LABOR  29 

Plans  for  the  formation  of  the  Triple  Alliance  had  been  laid 
before  the  war  was  dreamt  of,  but  were  not  completed  until 
December,  1914.  The  alliance  has  already  taken  steps  to  secure 
compliance  with  the  government  promise  that  trade  union  prac- 
tices and  customs  will  be  restored  with  the  coming  of  peace  and 
that  demobilization  shall  take  place  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  a 
period  of  unemployment  and  low  wages/ 

The  organization  activities  among  the  working  classes  had 
found  its  counterpart  among  their  employers.  How  large  a 
proportion  of  the  employers  were  organized  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  we  do  not  know,  but  in  1914  there  were  1,558  organiza-^ 
tions  of  employers,  of  which  ninety-eight  were  federations  or 
national  associations  and  1,460  were  local  associations.  These 
numbers  include  only  those  organizations  which  deal  directly 
with  industrial  relations.  Employers  were  for  the  most  part 
organized  in  the  same  trades  and  along  the  same  lines  as  were 
their  employes.  Thus  496  associations  of  employers  were  in  the 
building  trades  and  246  were  in  the  metal,  engineering  and  ship- 
building trades.         ^ 

That  these  organizations  of  employers  and  of  their  work 
people  existed  for  the  most  part  to  deal  on  friendly  terms  with 
each  other  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  1910  an  investigation 
made  by  the  government  showed  that  at  least  1,696  trade  agree- 
ments of  one  sort  or  another  were  in  existence  to  govern  the 
relations  between  employers  and  employes.  The  total  number 
of  workers  affected  by  these  agreements  was  estimated  at  2,400,- 
000,  of  whom  900,000  were  engaged  in  mining  and  quarrying, 
500,000  in  the  transport  trades,  460,000  in  the  textile  trades, 
230,000  in  the  metal,  engineering  and  shipbuilding  trades  and 
200,000  in  the  building  trades. 

Industrial  Disputes 

It  is  perhaps  to  be  expected  that  with  a  great  increase  in  the 
number  of  trade  unionists  there  should  come  an  effort  to  make 

1  Leland  Olds :  Railroad  Transportation  in  British  Industrial  Experience 
During  the  War,  vol.  2,  pp.  1155-1158. 


30  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  potential  strength  of  the  unions  effective  in  securing  increases 
in  wages  and  improvements  in  working  conditions.  This  expec- 
tation is  fully  realized  when  one  consults  the  record  of  industrial 
disputes  for  the  years  preceding  the  war. 

In  its  review  of  "  Labor  Disputes  in  1913,"  the  Board  of 
Trade  Labour  Gazette  of  November,  1914,  has  this  to  say  con- 
cerning conditions  during  these  years : 

The  year  1913  was  the  third  of  a  series  in  which  a  considerable  number 
of  important  disputes  have  occurred.  Single  years  in  the  past  have  sur- 
passed one  or  more  of  these  years  in  respect  of  number  of  disputes,  num- 
ber of  work  people  involved,  or  aggregate  duration  of  disputes ;  but,  so 
far  as  the  available  statistics  show,  there  has  never  before  been  a  series  of 
three  consecutive  years  marked  as  a  whole  by  such  widespread  industrial 
unrest.^ 

A  Study  of  the  strike  statistics  shows  that  practically  all  the 
main  groups  of  trades  were  affected  by  the  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  disputes  or  in  the  number  of  workers  affected  by  them.  In 
view  of  the  general  industrial  prosperity  and  of  the  increase  in 
the  cost  of  living,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  demands  for  advances 
in  wages  would  be  the  cause  for  the  majority  of  disputes  during 
these  years.  Disputes  over  wages  explain  the  suspension  of  in- 
dustry by  46.1  per  cent  of  the  workers  directly  involved  in  trade 
disputes  in  1911,  82.8  per  cent  in  1912  and  54.9  per  cent  in  1913.=^ 
In  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  workers  were  at  least  partially 
successful  in  obtaining  their  demands.^ 

The  period  of  intense  industrial  disturbances  did  not  come  to 
an  end  with  the  close  of  1913,  but  continued  into  1914  down  to 
the  very  outbreak  of  the  war.  The  number  of  disputes  occurring 
during  the  seven  months  January-July,  1914  (772),  was  some- 
what short  of  the  number  for  the  same  months  of  1913  (852), 
but  the  number  of  work  people  involved  in  1914  (412,131)  was 
only  a  trifle  fewer  than  in  1913  (413,019),  while  the  aggregate 
duration  in  working  days  of  all  disputes  was  much  larger  in  1914 
(9,107,800)  than  in  1913  (6,339,400).* 

^Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  398. 

^Seventeenth  Abstract  of  Labour  Statistics,  1915,  p.  190. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  191. 

*  Labour  Gazette.  1914,  p.  308. 


ENGLISH    INDUSTRY   AND   LABOR  31 

The  brief  statistical  survey  of  industrial  and  labor  conditions 
in  England  during  the  months  and  years  immediately  preceding 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  which  we  have  just  given  is  probably 
sufficient  to  show  that  it  was  on  the  whole  a  "  merrie  Englande  " 
upon  which  the  ravages  of  war  began  to  fall  in  August,  1914. 
The  country  had  been  enjoying  prosperous  conditions  for  several 
years  and  while  a  retrograde  movement  had  begun  during  the 
latter  part  of  1913,  which  had  continued  up  to  August,  1914,  the 
decline  had  not  been  great  and  there  was  as  yet  no  indication  that 
it  was  to  be  a  serious  or  prolonged  industrial  depression. 

While  it  seems  evident  that  the  laboring  classes  had  not  shared 
in  the  prosperity  of  the  industries  to  the  same  extent  as  had  the 
shareholders,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  retail  prices  of  those 
commodities  which  enter  most  largely  into  the  wage  earner's 
consumption  had  risen  more  rapidly  than  had  the  laborer's  wages,  , 
yet  a  full  consideration  of  such  matters  as  the  regularity  of  em-  . 
ployment,  the  reduction  of  hours  of  work  and  the  growth  of 
social  insurance  warrants  the  statement  that  laborer  as  well  as 
capitalist  had  profited  by  the  industrial  prosperity  of  the  years 
1911-1914,  even  though  they  had  profited  in  an  unequal  degree. 


CHAPTER  III 

Industrial  Panic  and  Readjustment 

The  first  effect  of  the  war  on  industry  was  the  creation  of  a 
feeling  of  uncertainty.  Mr.  G.  D.  H.  Cole  in  his  book  entitled 
Labour  in  War  Time  ^  well  describes  this  uncertainty  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms : 

When  war  broke  out,  the  workers,  the  capitalists,  and  the  government 
seem  to  have  been  equally  in  the  dark  as  to  its  probable  effects  upon  industry. 
No  one  knew  what  would  be  its  reaction  upon  the  credit  system  and  on  ex- 
ternal trade;  no  one  knew  how  far  the  home  demand  was  likely  to  suffer 
contraction ;  no  one  foresaw  the  scale  on  which  the  war  would  be  carried  on, 
or  the  immense  demands  it  would  make  upon  production.  It  was,  of  course, 
anticipated  that  a  few  industries  ministering  directly  to  military  needs  would 
be  busy  beyond  their  wont;  but  even  here  nothing  like  what  has  actually 
happened  was  expected  in  the  early  days  of  August.  On  every  side  people 
made  up  their  minds  that  there  was  bound  to  be  a  very  severe  dislocation  of 
the  industrial  machine,  if  not  a  complete  collapse. 

The  way  in  which  this  uncertainty  first  communicated  itself  to 
trade  was,  of  course,  through  the  medium  of  retail  prices,  espe- 
cially the  prices  of  food.  Food  prices  began  to  advance  on 
August  1,  but  the  sharp  rise  took  place  after  August  3,  which 
was  a  bank  holiday.^  By  August  8  prices  had  attained  their 
maximum  for  the  month  and  were  then  on  an  average  15  or  16 
per  cent  higher  than  the  level  for  July.  This  advance  was  gen- 
eral, but  by  no  means  uniform  for  the  various  commodities,  being 
only  one  per  cent  in  the  case  of  milk,  whereas  in  the  case  of 
sugar  it  was  83  per  cent  in  the  towns  of  over  50,000  inhabitants 
and  86  per  cent  in  the  smaller  towns.^  After  August  8  the 
prices  of  most  foods  began  to  recede  and  by  the  29th  of  the 
month  the  percentage  increase  over  the  July  level  was  11  for 

1  Page  62. 

2  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  323. 

32 


INDUSTRIAL   PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  33 

the  larger  and  9  for  the  smaller  towns.^  The  only  notable 
exceptions  to  this  general  decline  were  fish  and,  in  the  case  of  the 
larger  towns,  mutton.  In  the  case  of  potatoes,  the  decline  was 
so  considerable  that  prices  during  the  latter  part  of  August  and 
throughout  the  remainder  of  the  year  were  actually  lower  than 
in  July.  This  was,  of  course,  mainly  due  to  the  coming  to  market 
of  the  new  crop. 

Growth  of  Unemployment 

The  effect  of  war  upon  employment  was  not  the  same  in  the 
various  industries  and  was  further  obscured  by  the  fact  that 
August  is  the  dull  season  in  certain  industries  as  dressmaking, 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  323.  What  action,  if  any,  taken  by  the  govern- 
ment, had  to  do  with  this  fall  of  prices  seems  a  matter  of  doubt.  Labor 
writers  refer  specifically  to  "  maxima  prices "  being  specifically  "  fixed  "  by 
the  government  and  having  assisted  in  the  fall  of  food  prices,  following  the 
August  panic.  Thus  the  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  after  showing  what  changes 
in  food  prices  took  place  said  (p.  42)  :  "  How  has  this  situation  been  dealt 
with  by  the  government  and  by  labor?  After  their  first  action  in  checking 
the  purely  panic  rise  of  the  first  weeks  of  August  by  fixing  maxima  prices, 
the  government  retired  from  the  scene."  Likewise  Cole  (Labour  in  War 
Time,  p.  119)  said:  "The  15  per  cent  increase  during  the  first  week  of 
August  was  largely  a  panic  increase  which  was  checked  partly  by  the  gov- 
ernment's action  in  fixing  maximum  prices,  but  still  more  by  the  natural 
evaporation  of  the  panic." 

A  careful  investigation  of  the  war  emergency  legislation  and  govern- 
mental orders  and  proclamations  has  failed  to  reveal  any  action  taken  by  the 
government  in  August,  1914,  in  the  way  of  fixing  maxima  prices.  On 
August  10,  1914,  Parliament  enacted  the  Unreasonable  Withholding  of  Food 
Supplies  Act,  1914,  providing  that  "  if  the  Board  of  Trade  are  of  opinion 
that  any  foodstuff  is  being  unreasonably  withheld  from  the  market,  they  may, 
if  so  authorized  by  His  Majesty's  Proclamation  (made  generally  or  as  re- 
spects any  particular  kind  of  foodstuff)  and  in  manner  provided  by  the 
proclamation,  take  possession  of  any  supplies  of  foodstuffs  to  which  it  re- 
lates, paying  to  the  owners  of  the  supplies  such  price  as  may  in  default  of 
agreement  be  reasonable."  etc.  (4  &  5  Geo.  5,  c.  51).  No  proclamation  was 
ever  made  under  this  power.  (Manual  of  Emergency  Legislation,  p.  17.) 
The  act  itself  was  repealed  on  August  28,  its  place  being  taken  by  the 
Articles  of  Commerce  (Returns,  etc.)  Act,  1914,  (4  &  5  Geo.  5,  c.  65).  This 
later  act  was  put  in  force  by  Proclamation  of  September  17,  1914  (Manual 
of  Emergency  Legislation,  p.  96),  and  it  was  apparently  on  its  authority 
that  the  Board  of  Trade  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  leading  sugar 
refiners  to  prevent  speculation  in  this  commodity  and  to  keep  its  price  within 
reasonable  bounds.  (Foreign  Food  Prices  as  Affected  by  the  War,  Bulletin 
of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  No.  170.  p.  62.)  In  August  and 
September,  1914,  the  Board  of  Trade  published  a  list  of  so-called  "maximum 
retail  prices"  for  various  food  commodities  which  were  recommended  by 
advisory  committees  of  retail  traders  as  reasonable,  (Labour  Gazette,  1914, 
pp.  283,  323-324)  but  there  appears  to  have  been  nothing  but  moral  suasion 
to  compel  their  adoption  by  retailers. 


34  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

millinery,  Tailoring  and  the  like.  In  other  industries,  notably 
cotton,  the  adverse  effects  of  the  war  Vv'ere  added  to  a  trade  de- 
cline, which  had  already  been  marked  for  some  time.  In  still 
other  industries,  especially  in  the  north  of  England,  employes 
were  absent  in  August  on  their  holiday  vacation.^  Certain  indus- 
tries, or  rather  certain  establishments,  profited  immediately  on 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  by  government  orders.  This  was  notably 
true  of  shipbuilding  and  of  certain  establishments  in  the  engineer- 
ing, saddlery  and  harness,  boot  and  shoe,  military  clothing  and 
hosiery  trades,  where  some  overtime  was  worked.^  Aside  from 
these  special  establishments,  however,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
general  effect  of  the  war  during  August  was  to  lessen  employ- 
ment in  nearly  all  industries. 

Unemployment  in  the  trade  unions  which  make  reports  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  took  a  sudden  upward  leap  from  2.8  per  cent 
of  the  membership  at  the  end  of  July  to  7.1  per  cent  at  the  end 
of  August.  At  the  end  of  August,  1913,  only  2  per  cent  of  the 
members  had  been  unemployed.^ 

The  total  number  of  people  remaining  on  the  registers  of  the 
British  labor  exchanges  for  whom  no  work  had  been  found  was 
194,580  on  August  14,  as  compared  with  112,622  on  July  17, 
and  with  89,049  in  August,  1913.^ 

In  the  insured  trades  where  the  number  of  insured  people  was 
2,341,508,  6.2  per  cent  of  the  workers  were  unemployed  at  the 
end  of  August,  as  compared  with  2.6  per  cent  at  the  end  of  July, 
and  3.1  per  cent  at  the  end  of  August,  1913.* 

The  figures  relating  to  unemployment  do  not  begin  to  show  the 
full  effect  of  the  crisis  upon  employment,  however,  since  in  many 
industries  and  establishments  the  workers  were  put  on  short  time 
instead  of  being  laid  off.  This  was  especially  true  in  the  tin  plate 
and  steel  sheet,  engineering,  printing,  bookbinding,  building, 
pottery  and  in  all  of  the  textile  trades.  This  resulted  in  a  great 
decrease  in  the  earnings  of  the  workers.^  In  the  cotton  manu- 
facture, where  conditions  were  especially  bad,  earnings  during 

^Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  321. 
.    2  Ibid.,  pp.  328-342. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  348. 
*  Ibid.,  1914,  p.  322. 


INDUSTRIAL   PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  35 

one  week  in  August  were  58.8  per  cent  less  than  in  the  corres- 
ponding week  in  July  and  60.9  per  cent  less  than  for  the  cor- 
responding week  in  August,  1913.^ 


Methods  of  Affording  Public  Relief 

Under  the  circumstances  it  is  perhaps  not  surprising  to  find 
that  there  was  an  increase  in  the  number  of  persons  seeking 
relief.  For  workers  in  the  seven  "  insured  trades  "  there  was, 
of  course,  the  relief  afforded  by  the  payment  of  unemployment 
benefits,  payable  under  the  provisions  of  Part  II  (Unemploy- 
ment) of  the  National  Insurance  Act,  1911.  Claims  for  unem- 
ployment benefits  amounting  to  180,233  were  made  during  the 
four  weeks  ending  August  28,  1914,  as  compared  with  103,730 
claims  made  during  the  five  weeks  ending  July  31,  and  the  aver- 
age weekly  amount  of  benefits  paid  during  August  was  £11,772 
as  compared  with  £8,793  in  July.^  .  There  was  a  fall  in  the  total 
number  of  claims  made  to  133,692  in  September,  but  the  average 
weekly  amount  of  benefits  paid  rose  to  £19,734  during  this 
month.^  Conditions  in  these  trades  thereafter  improved 
steadily. 

For  workers  in  other  trades  other  methods  of  affording  relief 
had  to  be  provided.  "  At  the  end  of  August,  1914,  40  distress 
committees  had  their  registers  open,  compared  with  sixteen  at 
the  end  of  July,  1914,  and  fifteen  at  the  end  of  August,  1913.  Of 
those  operating  at  the  end  of  August,  24  had  opened  their  regis- 
ters during  the  month  owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  employment 
caused  by  the  war.  In  addition,  numerous  local  organizations 
were  set  up  for  the  relief  of  distress."  ^  The  number  of  persons 
receiving  employment  relief  was  2,843  as  compared  with  589  in 
August,  1913,  and  in  addition  employment  was  provided  for  180 
persons  by  arrangement  with  employers  and  local  authorities.^ 

The  number  of  pauper  dependents,  which,  as  we  have  observed, 
had  been  steadily  declining  since  1909,  took  a  sudden  leap  upward 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  322. 
^Ibid.,  p.  351. 
8/&jd.,  p.  387. 


36  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

in  August,  showing  an  increase  of  1.9  per  cent  in  number,  and 
of  4  in  the  rate  per  10,000  of  the  total  population.  The  increase 
was  in  thirty  out  of  thirty-five  of  the  urban  districts,  but 
was  especially  noticeable  in  the  Leicester  district  and  in  East 
London/ 

The  distress  produced  b^  the  sudden  disturbance  of  industrial 
conditions  due  to  the  war  was  such  that  the  War  Office  found  it 
necessary  in  August  to  issue  to  the  contractors  working  on  army 
orders  suggestions  intended  to  minimize  the  evils  of  unemploy- 
ment and  a  warning  not  to  allow  sweating  conditions  to  enter  into 
their  subcontracts.  The  following  are  the  words  of  the  Memo- 
randum sent  out  by  the  War  Office :  ^ 


In  order  to  assist  as  far  as  possible  in  minimizing  the  evils  of  unemploy- 
ment which  must  in  some  districts  arise  as  a  result  of  the  war,  it  is  par- 
ticularly desired  that,  in  the  execution  of  army  orders,  contractors  shall  act 
upon  the  following  suggestions  to  such  extent  as  they  reasonably  can,  viz : — 
(1)  Rapid  delivery  to  be  attained  by  employing  extra  hands  in  shifts  or 
otherwise,  in  preference  to  overtime,  subject  always  to  the  paramount  neces- 
sity of  effecting  delivery  within  the  times  requisite  for  the  needs  of  the 
army.  (2)  Subletting  of  portions  of  the  work  to  other  suitable  manu- 
facturers situated  in  districts  where  serious  unemployment  exists,  although 
contrary  to  the  usual  conditions  of  army  contracts,  is  admissible  during  the 
present  crisis,  and  it  is  desired  to  encourage  such  subletting  on  the  following 
conditions,  viz: — (a)  The  main  contractor  to  remain  solely  responsible  for 
due  execution  of  the  contract  as  regards  quality,  dates  for  delivery  and  in 
every  respect,  (b)  The  fair  wages  clause  to  apply  strictly  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  passage  prohibiting  subletting.  The  main  contractor  to  be  re- 
sponsible for  subletting  only  to  manufacturers  who  will  undertake  to  observe 
the  other  provisions  of  the  fair  wages  clause,  (c)  Names  and  addresses  of 
all  firms  to  whom  it  is  proposed  to  sublet  work  to  be  submitted  for  approval 
before  work  is  actually  given  out  to  them. 


Reduction  in  Number  of  Trade  Disputes 

One  of  the  important  immediate  effects  of  the  outbreak  of 
war  was  the  great  reduction — almost  cessation — of  labor  dis- 
putes.    In  July,  1914,  ninety-nine  trade  disputes  had  begun  in 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  352. 
^Ihid..  p.  322. 


INDUSTRIAL   PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  37 

the  United  Kingdom  involving,  directly  or  indirectly,  49,370 
persons.  This,  added  to  the  number  of  persons  involved  in  dis- 
putes which  began  before  July  but  continued  into  August,  gave  a 
total  of  98,112.  The  working  days  lost  as  a  consequence  of  these 
disputes  was  1,327,800  during  the  month. ^  In  August  the  num- 
ber of  disputes  begun  during  the  month  fell  to  fifteen  and  their 
relatively  insignificant  character  is  shown  by  the  further  state- 
ment that  they  involved,  directly  and  indirectly,  only  2,004 
persons. 

The  decline  in  the  number  and  seriousness  of  these  disputes 
was  not  accidental,  nor  was  it  unpremeditated.  It  seems  to  have 
been  the  more  or  less  instinctive  feeling  of  both  laborers  and 
employers  that  a  period  of  international  war  was  not  a  time  to 
press  demands  for  changes  in  industrial  relations.  Accordingly, 
a  period  of  industrial  truce  began  and  settlements  were  reached 
in  most  disputes  then  in  progress  even  before  the  trade  union 
leaders  met  in  conference  to  suggest  such  settlements.  It  is  said, 
however,  that  the  disputes  were  "  settled,  generally  without  con- 
sultation of  the  rank  and  file"  (of  the  unionists).^  This  was, 
in  the  main,  true  of  the  settlement  of  the  London  building  trade 
dispute,  where  an  agreement  was  reached  on  August  6  by  the 
executives  of  the  unions  and  of  the  employers'  associations 
along  the  lines  of  a  proposed  agreement  which  had  several  times 
been  rejected  by  a  vote  of  the  workers.^ 

On  August  24,  a  conference  called  by  the  joint  board  of  the 
Trades  Union  Congress,  the  General  Federation  of  Trade 
Unions,  and  the  Labor  party  adopted  the  following  resolution : 

That  an  immediate  effort  be  made  to  terminate  all  existing  trade  disputes, 
whether  strikes  or  lockouts,  and  whenever  new  points  of  difficulty  arise 
during  the  war  period  a  serious  attempt  should  be  made  by  all  concerned  to 
reach  an  amicable  settlement  before  resorting  to  a  strike  or  lockout.* 

The  net  result  of  all  these  efforts  to  foster  industrial  peace 
was  that  the  number  of  lost  working  days  due  to  trade  disputes 

1  Labour  Gasette,  1914,  p.  308. 

2  Cole :  Labour  in  War  Time,  p.  43. 

3  Labour  Gasette,  1914,  p.  326. 

*The  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  22. 


38  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND    LEGISLATION 

fell  from  1,327,800  in  July  to  526,900  in  August,  with  a  further 
decline  to  229,800  in  September.' 


Rapid  Recovery  of  Employment  Conditions 

The  August  panic  soon  passed  and  industrial  readjustment 
took  place  rapidly  in  most  trades,  except  those  in  which  female 
laborers  were  largely  employed.  Trade  unions  with  7.1  per  cent 
of  their  members  out  of  work  at  the  end  of  August  reported  but 
5.6  per  cent  unemployed  at  the  end  of  September.  By  the  end 
of  October  this  percentage  had  fallen  to  4.4,  in  November  to  2.9 
and  by  the  end  of  the  year  to  2.5,  which  was  practically  equivalent 
to  conditions  at  the  close  of  1912  and  1913 — the  best  previously 
reported  conditions  for  December.^ 

In  the  insured  trades  the  rate  of  recovery  was  even  better,  as 
is  shown  by  the  following  table,  which  gives  the  percentage  of 
unemployed  to  the  total  number  of  workers  in  these  trades  for  the 
last  six  months  of  1914.^ 

Per  cent 

July 3.6 

August 6.2 

September   5.4 

October    4.2 

November   3.7 

December    3.3 

The  reasons  for  this  rapid  recovery  in  the  conditions  of  employ- 
ment were,  first,  the  placing  of  government  contracts,  which  not 
only  created  a  great  demand  for  labor  in  those  industries  and 
establishments  which  received  government  orders,  but  tended  to 
cause  a  shifting  of  labor  from  other  establishments  and  indus- 
tries, and,  second,  the  recruiting  campaign  and  the  progress  of 
voluntary  enlistments,  which  depleted  the  industrial  supplies  of 
male  labor  and  soon  changed  a  labor  surplus  into  a  labor  shortage 
in  many  trades. 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  pp.  346,  382. 

''Ibid.,  pp.  357,  393,  429;  1915,  pp.  1-2. 

«/Wd.,  1914,  pp.  282,  323,  358,  394,  429;  1915,  p.  2. 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  39 

The  first  trades  to  recover  were,  of  course,  those  working  on 
war  material,  such  as  the  engineering,  shipbuilding,  saddlery, 
furniture,  bit  and  stirrup,  woolen,  hosiery,  leather  and  boot  and 
shoe  trades.  Some  establishments  in  these  trades  began  to  prosper 
even  in  August,  but  the  recovery  is  much  more  marked  in  Septem- 
ber, when  statements  like  the  following  appear  frequently  in  the 
Board  of  Trade  reports  for  the  various  industries : 


Employment  was  good,  with  much  overtime  on  government  work.  .  .  . 
Many  men  were  brought  from  other  districts.  (Engineering  trades:  Lon- 
don district.)  ^  Employment  was  good,  especially  on  government  orders, 
much  overtime  being  worked  and  men  obtained  from  other  districts.  (En- 
gineering trades:  West  Midlands  district.)  ^  There  was  a  decline  in  employ- 
ment on  the  south  coast,  though  government  work  was  brisk.  (Shipbuilding 
trades.)  ^  At  Walsall  there  was  a  further  improvement  in  the  saddlery, 
furniture  and  bit  and  stirrup  trades,  due  to  army  orders,  and  employment 
was  very  good.  (Miscellaneous  Metal  Trades.)  2  Owing  to  the  execution  of 
government  orders,  employment  during  the  month  showed  a  very  marked 
improvement.  Of  the  total  number  of  work  people  covered  by  the  returns, 
under  20  per  cent  were  working  short  time  compared  with  60  per  cent  a 
month  ago.  (Woolen  trade.)  ^  Employment  showed  a  considerable  im- 
provement .  .  .  due  mainly  to  government  contracts.  (Hosiery  trade.)  * 
In  Leicester  .  .  .  improvement  was  mainly  with  firms  engaged  on  army  and 
navy  contracts,  these  were  working  double  shifts  and  on  Sundays.  (Hosiery 
trade.)  *  Employment  was  good,  with  much  overtime  in  districts  engaged 
on  government  contracts.  (Boot  and  Shoe  trade.)  ^  At  Leeds  .  .  .  most  of 
the  firms  were  engaged  on  army  and  navy  contracts,  including  orders  for 
French  army  boots,  and  a  great  deal  of  overtime  was  worked.  (Boot  and 
Shoe  trade.)  ^  Owing  to  the  execution  of  army  contracts,  employment  on 
the  whole  was  fairly  good,  and  better  than  a  month  ago  and  a  year  ago. 
(Tailoring  trade ;  Ready  made  and  Wholesale  Bespoke  Branch.)  ^ 


It  was  not  until  a  month  or  two  later  that  this  prosperity  of  the 
war  times  began  to  filter  down  into  the  other  industries  which 
furnished  them  with  their  materials.  By  October  the  iron  and 
steel  works  had  begim  to  receive  government  orders,'  in  the 


1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  ^7. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  368. 
s  Tbid.,  p.  369. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  371. 
B  Ibid.,  p.  Z73. 
^Ibid.,  p.  402. 


40  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

worsted  trade,  "  firms  engaged  on  khaki  yarn  and  clothes  were 
very  busy,"  ^  in  the  carpet  trade,  "  some  firms  reported  that  they 
were  turning  their  attention  to  blanket  making,"  ^  and  among 
carpenters  "  the  number  unemployed  was  reduced  by  more 
than  half,  large  numbers  of  men  being  employed  upon  the 
erection  of  huts  for  the  troops  and  upon  other  government 
work."  ' 

The  effect  of  military  service  in  reducing  the  amount  of  un- 
employment was  a  little  slower  in  its  operation.  It  appears  first 
as  a  notable  influence  in  the  agricultural  districts  where  even  in 
August  it  is  said  that  "  some  temporary  inconvenience  was  caused 
in  certain  districts  through  men  being  called  to  the  colors,"  *  and 
in  the  shipbuilding  trades,  where  there  was  "  some  temporary 
dislocation  on  the  outbreak  of  war  through  the  calling  up  of  re- 
servists." '  During  the  closing  months  of  the  year  the  influence 
of  this  cause  was  more  marked,  not  only  in  agriculture,®  but  in 
such  industries  as  coal  mining,^  iron  and  steel,*  glass,  cement,* 
and  on  the  docks.^"  By  February,  191 5,  unemployment  in  cer- 
tain trades  seems  to  have  become  an  aid  in  the  recruiting  cam- 
paign, for  in  nearly  all  the  depressed  trades  in  which  men  are 
largely  employed,  such  as  the  tin  plate,^^  brick,  pottery,^^  bleach- 
ing, printing  and  dyeing  ^^  industries,  the  fact  is  noted  that 
unemployment  is  being  reduced  by  enlistments. 

The  net  effect  of  the  operation  of  these  combined  forces — 
government  contracts  and  voluntary  enlistments — was  that  by 
the  end  of  the  year  conditions  in  most  trades  had  reached  their 
prewar  level  of  employment  and  in  other  industries,  those 
largely  engaged  on  government  work,  there  was  an  extraordi- 
nary activity. 

1  Labour  Gazette.  1914,  p.  406. 

^Ibid.,  p.  408. 

^Ibid.,  p.  411. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  341. 

^Ibid.,  p.  331. 

« Ibid.,  p.  377. 

T  Ibid.,  p.  400. 

»Ibid.,  p.  402. 

9  Ibid.,  p.   413. 

10  Ibid.,  p.  415. 

11 12  &  13  jtid.,  1915,  pp.  89,  99,  95. 


INDUSTRIAL   PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  41 

These  trades  were,  as  a  rule,  working  the  maximum  possible  hours,  many 
factories  having  double  shifts,  working  day  and  night,  and  working  on 
Sundays  as  well  as  week  days ;  there  was  a  general  complaint  of  a  shortage 
of  work  people  in  these  trades,  owing  to  enlistments.^ 


Slow  Recovery  in  the  Women's  Trades 

Those  industries  which  did  not  soon  recover  their  prewar  pros- 
perity were  the  cotton,  linen,  silk,  lace,  bespoke  tailoring,  dress- 
making, millinery,  hat,  tin  plate,  brick  and  pottery  manufactures 
and  the  fishing  industry.  It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  most  of 
these  industries  are  those  in  which  women  are  largely  employed 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  burden  of  unemployment 
during  the  first  six  months  of  the  war  fell  with  much  greater 
severity  upon  the  women  than  upon  the  men. 

The  loss  of  employment  to  the  women  was  not  alone  due  to 
the  slow  recovery  of  certain  trades.  Partly  due  to  increased 
taxation  and  partly  to  economies  voluntarily  adopted,  the  spend- 
ing power  of  the  people  was  reduced  and  the  reduction  took  the 
form  of  a  lessened  demand  for  luxuries.  Dressmakers,  milliners, 
silk  weavers,  collar  workers,  tailoresses  and  lacemakers  found 
their  services  dispensed  with.  House  and  hotel  servants  were  dis- 
missed in  many  cases.  Clerks  and  typists  who  had  been  employed 
by  firms  with  a  continental  trade  found  no  further  demand  for 
their  services.  Factories  making  candy  and  stationery  closed 
their  doors  or  ran  on  short  time.  Employment  was  bad  in  the 
high  class  branches  of  the  jewelry  manufacture,  and  in  some 
towns  even  the  laundry  workers  felt  the  effect  of  short 
work.^ 

The  review  of  the  work  of  the  Board  of  Trade  labor  ex- 
changes showed  that  in  the  case  of  both  men  and  women  the 
number  of  work  people  on  the  registers  at  the  middle  of  each 
month,  i.e.,  those  for  whom  no  vacancies  had  been  found,  was 
larger  during  1914  than  during  1913  in  every  month  from  Febru- 


1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  3. 

2  "  Unemployment  Among  Women  in  October,  1914."    Ibid.,  p.  395. 


42  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

ary   to   October,    inclusive.      The    percentage   of    increases    or 
decreases  for  the  remaining  months  were  as  follows :  ^ 

Men  Women 

Nov.  13,  1914    —11.7  +113.0 

Dec.  11,  1914     —32.3  +107.1 

Jan.  IS,  1915     —47.9  +  88.5 

Government  Efforts  to  Relieve  Distress  Due  to 
Unemployment 

Believing  that  a  good  deal  of  distress  was  likely  to  occur  as  a 
result  of  unemployment  during  the  war,  the  Prime  Minister  on 
the  very  day  war  was  declared  (August  4)  appointed  a  commit- 
tee, whose  chairman  was  Right  Hon.  Herbert  Samuel,  M.P., 
President  of  the  Local  Government  Board,  "  to  advise  on  the 
measures  necessary  to  deal  with  any  distress  that  might  arise  in 
consequence  of  the  war."  The  report  ^  of  the  committee  made 
December  31,  1914,  stated  that  they  had  made  "  the  prevention 
of  unemployment  and  distress  their  primary  object  throughout." 
In  their  circulars  to  local  committees  they  urged  that  work  people 
be  continued  in  employment,  so  far  as  possible,  in  their  local 
trades  and  that  cooperation  with  the  labor  exchanges  be  estab- 
lished. They  induced  the  principal  spending  departments  of  the 
government  to  spread  their  contracts,  in  order  to  secure  the 
employment  of  the  maximum  amount  of  labor.  They  obtained 
the  assistance  of  the  Road  Board  and  the  Development  Commis- 
sion in  promoting  new  work  in  districts  where  any  exceptional 
amount  of  unemployment  prevailed  or  was  anticipated. 

The  committee  found  that  "  the  fears  of  a  widespread  disloca- 
tion of  trade  which  were  entertained  in  some  quarters  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  have  not  been  realized.  Except  in  a  few 
districts  and  in  a  few  particular  industries  unemployment  has 
proved  to  be  much  less  serious  than  was  anticipated,  and,  as 
previously  stated,  the  policy  of  the  committee  has  been  to  secure 
that,  so  far  as  possible,  unemployed  labor  should  be  absorbed  in 

^Labour   Gazette,    1915,   p.   43. 

2  Report  on  the  Special  Work  of  the  Local  Government  Board  Arising  out 
of  the  War.     (Cd.  7763),  December  31,  1914. 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC   AND    READJUSTMENT  43 

schemes  of  useful  work,  the  cost  of  which  is  as  a  rule  properly 
chargeable  on  local  rate  or  on  other  public  funds."  ^ 

The  committee  was  able  to  report  that  it  had  not  been  neces- 
sary to  make  any  very  heavy  demands  upon  the  National  Relief 
Fund  for  the  assistance  of  cases  of  distress  among  the  civilian 
population,  and  such  grants  as  were  made  for  this  purpose  were 
"  applied  in  financing  schemes  of  employment  and  training."  The 
/  total  amount  of  such  grants  up  to  December  31,  1914,  was 
£158,266. 

The  committee  further  reported  that  "  the  effects  of  the  war 
on  employment  have  been  more  severely  felt  in  the  case  of 
women  than  in  the  case  of  men."  A  Central  Committee  on 
Women's  Employment  was  constituted,  which  not  only  gave 
assistance  to  local  committees  in  formulation  of  schemes  of  work 
directly  under  the  control  of  these  committees  but  also  established 
workrooms  under  its  own  immediate  supervision  and  inaugu- 
rated schemes  for  the  training  of  women  and  girls  and  for  experi- 
ments in  the  creation  of  new  industries.  A  special  fund  was 
collected  for  the  purpose  of  coping  with  distress  among  women 
workers.^ 

The  committee's  mention  of  having  secured  the  cooperation 
of  the  Road  Board  makes  desirable  the  following  statement  of 
the  efforts  made  by  the  Road  Board  to  care  for  the  un- 
employed. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  board  decided  to  suspend  the 
distribution  of  grants  made  to  local  authorities  on  the  ordinary 
lines  and  to  make  grants  in  case  they  should  be  necessary  to 
relieve  distress.  The  board  arranged  with  the  highway  authori- 
ties of  areas  in  which  distress  was  reported  to  grant  sums  aggre- 
gating £209,259  in  road  construction  or  improvement. 

In  addition  to  these  amounts  the  board  made  further  arrange- 
ments with  the  highway  authorities  by  which  road  construction 
and  improvement,  estimated  to  cost  in  the  aggregate  £2,115,824, 


*  Report  on  the  Special  Work,  etc.,  p.  6. 

^  Ibid.  For  further  information  on  this  subject  see  the  monograph  in  this 
series  by  Irene  Osgood  Andrews  and  Margaret  A.  Hobbs,  entitled  Economic 
Effects  of  the  War  Upon  Women  and  Children,  chapter  iii. 


44  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

"  should  be  carried  out  in  the  event  of  the  state  of  employ- 
ment for  labor  rendering  it  desirable  to  do  so,  and  towards  which 
the  board  promised  to  contribute."  ^  "  The  works  agreed  upon," 
it  was  said,  "  are  all  useful  works,  the  need  for  which  has  been 
established;  and,  though  the  board  have  not  pledged  themselves 
to  make  grants  in  respect  thereof,  except  on  the  occurrence  of  dis- 
,tress  arising  from  lack  of  employment,  they  will  be  prepared  to 
consider  applications  made  by  highway  authorities  in  respect  of 
such  works  in  the  ordinary  course,  and  upon  their  merits."  ^ 

Efforts  to  Furnish  Work  to  Belgian  Refugees 

It  was  the  Special  Committee  on  the  Prevention  and  Relief  of 
Distress  which  also  undertook  to  care  for  the  Belgian  refugees,  to 
provide  for  their  transportation  to  England,  for  their  care  on 
arrival  and  to  secure  work  for  those  able  to  work.  With  regard 
to  the  matter  of  employment  of  these  refugees,  the  committee 
reported  that  difficulties  soon  appeared.  "  Many  of  the  refugees 
were  skilled  workmen  and  there  was  a  demand  for  their  services 
in  several  trades,  while  among  the  refugees  themselves  there  was 
naturally  a  desire  to  find  some  useful  occupation  during  their  stay 
here.  It  was  most  desirable  to  secure  that  any  occupation  found 
for  them  should  not  interfere  with  the  employment  of  British 
labor,  and  it  was  also  desired  to  safeguard  the  refugees  so  that 
they  did  not  suffer  from  improper  conditions  of  employment."  ^ 

It  was  decided  to  appoint  a  special  committee  "  to  investigate 
these  and  other  similar  questions,"  and  to  make  recommendations. 
This  committee,  of  which  Sir  Ernest  Hatch,  Bart.,  was  the 
chairman,  was  appointed  at  the  end  of  October  and  made  its 
first  report  ^  in  December.  The  committee  reported  that  out  of 
about  a  million  refugees — nearly  a  sixth  of  the  population — 

^Labour  Gazette,  1915,  316.  (Review  of  5th  Annual  Report  of  the  Road 
Board.) 

2  Report  on  Special  Work,  etc.  (Cd.  7763),  p.  6. 

3  First  report  of  the  departmental  committee  appointed  by  the  President 
of  the  Local  Government  Board  to  consider  and  report  on  questions  arising 
in  connection  with  the  reception  and  employment  of  the  Belgian  refugees  in 
this  country.     (Cd.  7750.) 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  45 

about  110,000  had  arrived  in  England  and  arrangements  were 
being  made  to  bring  over  more  from  Holland  "  to  relieve  the 
excessive  pressure  there."  Of  the  refugees  in  England  informa- 
tion was  secured  by  the  Registrar  General  from  about  100,000, 
which  showed  that  the  number  of  men  above  18  years  of  age  was 
approximately  32,000,  of  whom  about  5,000  were  estimated  to  be 
of  military  age.  The  number  of  women  above  the  age  of  16  was 
also  approximately  32,000  and  two-thirds  of  the  women  whose 
marital  condition  was  known  were  married. 

The  committee  quite  early  in  its  deliberations  received  an 
intimation  from  the  Belgian  government  that  it  was  desirable 
that  no  employment  should  be  given  to  unmarried  men  between 
the  ages  of  18  and  30  who  were  in  a  fit  condition  for  military 
service.  This  class  was  accordingly  excluded  from  the  scope  of 
the  committee's  investigations.^ 

The  registration  of  the  workers  according  to  their  occupations 
showed  that  they  fell  into  three  main  groups:  "  (1)  Workers 
qualified  to  fill  vacancies  in  industries  in  which  a  shortage  of 
British  labor  exists,  such  as  armament  workers,  glass  blowers, 
woolen  workers,  miners,  motor  mechanics,  and  agricultural  labor- 
ers. (2)  Workers  qualified  for  and  in  need  of  employment  for 
whom  no  opportunities  in  British  industries  exist,  such  as  tailors, 
ironmongers,  jewelers,  milliners,  dressmakers,  printers,  book- 
binders, fancy  goods. makers  and  cabinet  makers.  (3)  Other 
special  classes,  mainly  of  a  professional  character,  such  as  gov- 
ernment officials,  employers,  clerks,  musicians,  teachers,  authors 
and  lawyers."  ^ 

The  committee  expressed  the  opinion  that  no  great  difficulty 
would  be  found  in  securing  employment  for  those  in  the  first 
group,  that  for  those  in  the  second  group  "  special  measures  will 
have  to  be  devised  if  work  is  to  be  provided,"  and  that  for  those 
in  the  third  group  "  practically  no  chance  of  employment  exists,"  ' 

In  considering  what  work  could  be  found  for  the  refugees  and 
under  what  conditions  they  should  be  employed  the  committee 

1  Report  of  Committee  on  Belgian  Refugees  (Cd.  7750),  pp.  4-6. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  38. 

8  Ibid.,  pp.  38-39. 


46  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

consulted  with  employers  of  labor,  representatives  of  trade  unions 
and  government  officials.  *'  The  representatives  of  the  trade 
uniohs  raised  no  objections  to  the  employment  of  Belgians,  but 
they  all  made  the  following  stipulations : 

(1)  That  no  Belgian  should  be  given  any  work  for  which  British  labor 
was  available. 

(2)  That  in  respect  of  wages  paid  to  Belgians  and  the  conditions  of  their 
employment  the  trade  union  regulations  should  be  observed. 

(3)  That  in  the  event  of  the  slackening  of  trade  Belgian  employes  should 
make  way  for  British  workmen. 

It  was  also  considered  desirable  that  all  Belgians  for  whom  work  might 
be  provided,  should  become  members  of  British  trade  unions.^ 

The  committee  decided  that  the  proper  organization  to  under- 
take the  task  of  finding  employment  for  the  refugees  was  the 
Labor  Exchanges  Department  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  it 
requested  local  refugee  committees  to  cooperate  with  the  local 
labor  exchanges.  It  was  ascertained  that  voluntary  agencies 
had  already  sprung  up  to  advertise  for  Belgians  to  fill  vacancies 
in  certain  trades  and  that  certain  employers  were  taking  steps  to 
obtain  the  services  of  Belgian  workmen.  Investigation  showed 
that  in  some  instances  refugees  had  obtained  work  for  which  they 
were  receiving  wages  at  lower  rates  than  those  paid  to  British 
workmen  in  the  same  occupation. 

The  policy  which  the  committee  recommended  should  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  labor  exchanges  had  as  its  two  main  principles  the 
following : 

(1)  That  no  Belgian  labor  should  be  employed  until  every  reasonable 
eflfort  had  been  made  to  find  British  labor  through  the  agency  of  the  labor 
exchanges. 

(2)  That  no  Belgian  labor  should  be  employed  at  rates  of  wages  lower, 
or  on  conditions  less  favorable,  than  those  generally  observed  in  the  district 
concerned  by  agreement  between  the  Association  of  Employers  and  of 
Workmen,  or  failing  such  agreement,  than  those  generally  recognized  in 
such  district  by  good  employers.^ 

Although  these  conditions  imposed  upon  the  labor  exchanges 
did  not  go  as  far  as  the  trade  union  recommendations,  it  appears 
that  they  were  sufficiently  exacting  to  make  it  difficult  for  the 

^  Report  on  Belgian  Refugees,  p.  17. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  9. 


INDUSTRIAL   PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  4Y 

exchanges  to  place  the  refugees  in  positions  which  were  deemed 
satisfactory.  Up  to  November  30,  the  exchanges  had  received 
applications  for  Belgian  laborers  from  1,281  employers,  only 
1,099  of  which  could  for  various  reasons  be  considered  and  dealt 
with.  Excluding  the  requests  of  239  employers  who  did  not 
state  the  precise  number  of  workers  desired,  the  numbers  re- 
quested were  3,775  men  and  1,508  women  or  a  total  of  5,283.^ 
Yet  up  to  December  21  only  607  Belgians,  of  whom  five  were 
women,  had  been  placed  in  employment  by  the  labor  exchanges. 
The  reasons  for  so  few  placements  were  said  to  be  that  the  local 
refugee  committees  did  not  take  any  steps  to  bring  the  vacancies 
advertised  by  the  labor  exchanges  to  the  notice  of  the  refugees 
and  that  the  conditions  imposed  upon  the  exchanges  by  the  Local 
Government  Board,  as  just  given,  meant  delay  in  placing  refugees 
in  some  cases  and  made  it  impossible  in  others.^  The  committee 
went  on  to  say  that  "  there  are  many  other  agencies  at  work  not 
subject  to  these  conditions,  and  it  is  known  that  many  refugees 
have  obtained  work  independently  of  the  exchanges  without  the 
security  which  employment  through  their  agency  affords.  The 
fact  that  the  conditions  recommended  by  the  committee  must 
necessarily  be  satisfied  before  employment  can  be  offered  to 
Belgians  through  the  agency  of  the  exchanges,  tends  to  divert 
the  business  from  the  exchanges  to  other  agencies,  which  are 
under  no  obligation  to  see  that  those  conditions  are  satisfied."  * 

"  The  committee  fear  that  in  some  instances  refugees  have  been 
employed  on  unsatisfactory  terms  and  conditions,  and  it  has  been 
suggested  that,  with  a  view  to  preventing  occurrences  of  this 
kind,  which  are  greatly  to  be  deplored,  measures  should  be  taken 
to  make  the  employment  of  Belgians  through  the  agency  of  the 
labor  exchanges  compulsory."  ' 

The  committee  did  not  make  this  as  a  formal  recommendation 
at  the  time  of  making  its  report,  but  announced  that  it  was 
making  further  investigations  with  a  view  to  making  a  definite 
recommendation.     The  committee   found  it  difficult  to  make 

1  Report  on  Belgian  Refugees,  p.  11. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  36. 

8/6id.,  p.  39.  , 


48  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

practicable  suggestions  concerning  employment  for  workers  in  its 
second  main  group,  those  trained  for  occupations  in  which  there 
was  already  a  surplus  of  British  workers.  These  were  largely 
the  luxury  trades  in  which  at  the  time  there  wae  much  unemploy- 
ment. The  committee  recommended  that  the  Belgian  refugees 
in  these  occupations  be  employed  in  making  clothes,  furniture 
and  other  articles  for  household  use  for  the  benefit  of  their  own 
people  when  they  should  return  to  their  own  country  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  Several  workshops  had  already  been  established 
having  this  purpose  in  view.^ 

The  greatest  difficulty  in  carrying  out  this  plan,  it  was  admitted, 
was  the  fact  that  the  refugees  were  scattered  throughout  the 
country  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  enough  workers  in  any 
one  place  who  had  sufficient  knowledge  of  any  one  trade  to  con- 
duct a  workshop  for  the  carrying  on  of  that  trade.  The  com- 
mittee therefore  recommended  that  the  government  undertake  a 
redistribution  of  the  refugees  and  that  a  central  authority  be 
formed  to  advise  and  assist  local  refugee  committees  in  the 
organization  of  schemes  for  the  establishment  of  such  work- 
shops.^ 

Criticism  of  the  Government's  Plans 

The  Local  Government  Board's  plans  and  methods  of  prevent- 
ing and  relieving  distress  met  with  considerable  criticism  from 
"  The  Workers'  National  Committee  "  formed  on  August  6  by 
the  Labor  and  Socialist  Emergency  Conference  to  protect  work- 
ing class  interests  during  the  war.  The  main  grounds  of  criti- 
cism were  (1)  that  "the  problem  of  relieving  distress  should 
have  been  a  charge  on  the  nation,  and  should  not  have  been 
handed  over  to  a  voluntary  fund,"  and  (2)  that  "the  Local 
Representatives  Committees  were  practically  delivered  over  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  *  social  worker,'  so  that  an  atmosphere  of 
*  pauperization  '  resulted."  ^ 

The  Workers'  National  Committee  formulated  a  program 
about  the  middle  of  October  for  relieving  distress  and  preventing 

1  Report  on  Belgian  Refugees,  pp.  33-35. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  40-41. 

3  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  32. 


INDUSTRIAL   PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  49 

unemployment  and  called  upon  "  the  entire  Labor  and  Socialist 
movement  to  force  these  demands  upon  the  government  by  an 
immediate  national  campaign."  ^  There  were  thirteen  different 
proposals  made  in  this  program,  which  included  among  others 
demands  that  all  war  relief  be  merged  together  and  be  taken 
over  and  administered  by  the  government,  that  there  be  labor 
representation  on  all  national  and  local  committees,  provision  of 
productive  work  at  standard  rates  of  wages  for  the  unemployed, 
fixing  of  maxima  prices  for  food  and  commandeering  of  food 
supplies  by  the  nation  where  advisable,  the  inauguration  of  a 
comprehensive  policy  of  municipal  housing,  and  the  continuance 
of  national  control  over  public  utilities  at  the  close  of  the 
war. 

Although  it  is  conceded  by  the  friends  of  this  program  that 
"  hardly  any  of  its  demands  were  granted,  and  of  the  more  impor- 
tant none  were  fully  conceded,"  ^  yet  it  is  claimed  that  the 
Workers'  National  Committee  did  much  "  to  prevent  abuses  and 
ameliorate  the  hardships  to  which  the  workers  were  subjected," 
and  the  further  claim  is  made  that : 

It  is  true  to  say  that  it  was  chiefly  due  to  this  emergency  committee  that 
at  the  outset  the  workers  were  not  utterly  crushed  by  the  burden  and  novel 
hardships  of  the  European  War.^ 

Emergency  Grants 

In  line  with  the  demands  made  by  the  Workers*  National 
Committee,  although  apparently  independent  of  these  demands, 
since  it  was  claimed  by  the  committee  that  the  government's 
action  was  entirely  inadequate,  was  the  announcement  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  acting  under  authority  given  by  section  106  of 
the  National  Insurance  Act,  1911  (1  and  2  Geo.  5,  c.  55),  and 
section  14  of  the  National  Insurance  (Part  II,  Amendment)  Act, 
1914  (4  and  5  Geo.  5,  c.  57),  that  it  was  prepared  to  entertain 
applications  from  trade  unions  and  other  associations  paying 
unemployed  benefits  to  their  members  for  the  payment  from  the 

^Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  pp.  32-35. 


50  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

Exchequer  of   emergency   grants   intended   to   supplement   the 
funds  of  the  unions  used  for  these  purposes. 

These  emergency  grants  were  in  addition  to  the  refunds  of  one- 
sixth  of  the  benefits  paid  by  the  unions  as  allowed  under  section 
106  of  the  Original  Insurance  Act  of  1911.  The  emergency 
grants  were  payable  subject  to  the  following  conditions : 

(1)  The  union  or  association  must  be  one  in  which  there  was 
an  abnormal  amount  of  unemployment  (at  least  double 
the  normal  for  a  period  of  years)  and  the  Board  of  Trade 
must  be  satisfied  of  this  fact. 

(2)  The  union  or  association  must  agree  to  pay  as  unem- 
ployed benefits  not  more  than  17s.  weekly  to  any  mem- 
ber (including  the  amount  paid  by  the  state). 

(3)  While  receiving  this  emergency  grant,  the  union  or 
association  must  agree  to  impose  upon  its  members  who 
were  fully  employed  weekly  levies  over  and  above  the 
ordinary  contributions  made  for  this  purpose. 

(4)  The  union  or  association  receiving  the  grants  must  fur- 
nish the  Board  of  Trade  with  information,  as  required, 
as  to  the  unemployment  of  their  members. 

The  amount  of  the  emergency  grant  was  to  vary  according 
to  the  rate  of  levy  and  the  rate  of  levy  would  vary  according  to 
the  maximum  benefit  paid.  Under  no  circumstances  would  the 
subsidy  paid  by  the  state  (including  the  amount  ordinarily 
obtainable  under  section  106)  exceed  one-half  the  unemployment 
benefits  paid  by  the  association.  Thus,  if  an  association  decided 
to  pay  the  maximum  benefit  of  17s.  a  week  and  in  order  to  do 
this  made  a  levy  of  6d.  per  week  upon  its  fully  employed  mem- 
bers, it  would  (subject  to  its  fulfilling  the  other  conditions)  be 
entitled  to  an  emergency  grant  of  one-third  its  expenditure  plus 
the  ordinary  grant  of  one-sixth,  or  a  total  allowance  from  the 
Exchequer  of  one-half  the  expenditure  for  unemployed  bene- 
fits. If  the  levy  was  only  3d.  per  week,  where  the  maximum 
benefit  was  paid,  the  emergency  grant  would  be  only  one-sixth 
the  expenditure  (combined  with  the  one-sixth  under  section 
106),  a  total  allowance  of  one-third  the  expenditure. 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC    AND   READJUSTMENT  51 

The  emergency  grants  would  ordinarily  be  given  in  respect  of 
expenditures  made  after  the  application  for  a  grant  had  been 
allowed,  but,  under  certain  conditions,  might  be  made  retroac- 
tive to  a  date  not  earlier  than  August  4,  1914  (the  date  on  which 
war  was  declared).^ 

It  may  be  well  to  follow  here  the  history  of  these  emergency 
grants,  as  they  throw  considerable  light  on  the  extent  of  unem- 
ployment during  the  early  months  of  the  war  and  indicate  the 
trades  affected  thereby. 

Up  to  the  end  of  December,  1914,  156  unions  had  made  appli- 
cation for  the  emergency  grants.  These  unions  had  a  total 
membership  of  232,880  and  the  amounts  paid  to  them  were,  up 
to  that  time,  £41,775.  Of  this  amount  £37,437  went  to  117 
unions  in  Ihe  cotton  industry,  having  a  membership  of  181,970. 
Other  textile  workers  received  £1,560  and  four  unions  in  the 
printing  trades  received  £1,560.  Small  amounts  were  paid  to 
unions  in  the  metal,  hatters,  woodwork  and  other  trades.^ 
Emergency  grants  continued  to  be  made  in  rapidly  decreasing 
amounts  during  the  succeeding  months,  but  in  May  the  Board  of 
Trade  announced  that  "  in  view  of  the  complete  change  of  condi- 
tions "  it  would  pay  no  grants  on  expenditures  incurred  after  the 
end  of  May.'  As  a  matter  of  fact,  very  little  was  paid  on  expen- 
ditures incurred  after  April  30,  1915.  The  total  results  of  this 
policy  up  to  August  1,  1915,  are  shown  in  the  following  table :  * 

Applications  .Granted  Amounts 

Trade  Group                                 No.  of  Associations  Membership        Paid 

Building    1  61  i         4 

Metal   18  8,372  1,297 

Cotton   135  221,413  70,566 

Other  textiles 7  5,402  2,285 

Printing 6  23,260  5,491 

Woodwork  8  17,302  2,148 

Other  trades   10  8,487  2,385 

Total    185  284,297  £84,176 

1  Manual   of  Emergency   Legislation,   Supplement   No.    1.     (To   Nov.   3, 
1914),  pp.  41-44. 
'^Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  8. 
»fbid.,  p.  231. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  307. 


52  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

Any  need  for  unusual  measures  to  relieve  distress  or  to  prevent 
unemployment  among  male  workers  had  disappeared  by  the  end 
of  1914.  A  few  trades,  like  the  bespoke  tailoring,  hat  and  brick 
trades,  were  still  dull,  but  the  ordinary  agencies  for  dealing  with 
unemployment  and  distress  were  probably  able  to  cope  with  the 
situation  so  far  as    men  workers  were  concerned. 


Improved  Conditions  among  Women  :  Industrial  Transfers 

In  the  women's  trades  (textiles,  dressmaking,  millinery,  etc.) 
improvement  took  place  much  more  slowly.  The  February, 
1915,  Labour  Gazette  notes 

that  during  the  past  four  months  there  has  been  a  gradual  improvement 
owing  to  the  demand  for  women's  labor  in  connection  with  the  equipment  of 
the  new  army,  especially  as  regards  tailoring,  shirts,  boots  and  leather 
work.i 

The  establishment  of  workrooms  where  girls  were  taught  new 
trades  had  relieved  the  situation  somewhat  in  London,  especially 
among  dressmakers.^ 

Transference  of  female  workers  from  one  industry  to  another 
does  not  yet  appear  to  have  become  frequent,  although  there  were 
instances  of  such  transfers  having  been  made  or  attempted.  Thus 
it  is  said  that  among  the  Lancashire  cotton  operatives, 

over  200  women  went  either  into  Yorkshire  or  into  the  Rochdale  woolen 
mills.  But  with  the  recent  improvement  in  the  cotton  industry  a  large  pro- 
portion of  these  workers  have  returned,  and  it  seems  improbable  that  any- 
thing more  can  now  be  done  in  the  way  of  transferring  workers  from  the 
one  trade  to  the  other.^ 

Other  cases  of  transfers  were  corset  factory  workers  in  Bath  and 
Portsmouth  being  put  at  work  at  making  knapsacks  for  the 
army;  ^  girls  in  Redditch  employed  in  making  fish  hooks  were 
"  absorbed  by  the  local  development  in  the  manufacture  of  hosiery 

'^Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  38. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  39. 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC    AND   READJUSTMENT  53 

machine  needles;  "  ^  dressmakers  in  Walsall  were  taken  on  in  the 
lighter  and  less  skilled  branches  of  the  leather  industry ;  ^  in  Kil- 
birnie  (Scotland)  the  net  makers  went  into  the  textile  mills 
employed  on  government  work,^  and  in  the  northern  division  the 
ammunition  works  absorbed  large  numbers  of  work  people  from 
other  factories/ 

Some  efforts  at  transfer  of  workers  to  new  industries  failed. 
Thus  in  Basford  an  effort  was  made  to  use  lace  menders  in  the 
hosiery  trade  "  but  they  were  not  found  to  be  suitable  for  the 
work."  ^  It  was  stated,  however,  that  a  new  industry  for  the 
manufacture  of  tapes,  braids,  etc.,  would  absorb  an  appreciable 
number  of  lace  workers,  "  who  are  well  adapted  to  their  class  of 
work."  ^ 

Further  instances  of  these  industrial  transfers  are  noted  in 
February.  Dressmaking  in  London  was  still  depressed,  but  many 
dressmakers  were  finding  employment  on  army  clothing,  shirts, 
etc.^  In  the  bootmaking  trade,  where  a  shifting  had  taken  place 
from  football  boots  to  army  boots,  it  was  said  that  the  fact  that 
there  was  less  work  on  an  army  boot  had  caused  the  dismissal  of 
a  certain  number  of  the  women.^ 

Still  another  factor  in  the  unemployment  situation  is  brought 
out  in  the  following  quotation : 


The  high  wages  earned  by  men  have  also  to  some  extent  reacted  on  the 
supply  of  women's  labor.  The  women  who  were  thrown  out  of  work  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  in  certain  colliery  districts,  for  example,  are  com- 
paratively indifferent  whether  they  obtain  fresh  employment  or  not,  as  the 
men's  contribution  to  the  family  income  has  compensated  for  their  own 
lack  of  wages.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is  obviously  difficult  to  induce 
the  women  to  learn  any  new  trade  or  to  move  to  districts  where  their  labor 
would  be  really  needed.^ 


In  the  districts  where  soldiers  were  billeted,  the  effect  of  war 
conditions  was  seen  in  an  increased  demand  for  domestic  help, 
without  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  supply. 

^Labour  Gazette,  191S,  p.  39. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  79. 


54  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

Women  who  went  out  either  for  industrial  or  domestic  help  now  find 
occupation  at  home;  in  many  cases  they  even  need  help,  and  the  two  in- 
fluences combined  have  in  some  districts  resulted  in  the  unusual  state  of 
affairs  that  the  supply  of  charwomen  is  insufficient  to  meet  the  demand/ 


Disappearance  of  Unemployment 

A  further  recital  of  the  improvement  in  labor  conditions  which 
took  place  during  the  first  half  of  1915  would  only  be  in  the 
nature  of  repetition.  Among  male  laborers,  the  condition  of 
labor  surplus  which  existed  in  August  and  September  had  given 
way  to  a  labor  shortage  by  the  early  part  of  1915.  Unemploy- 
ment among  women  workers  diminished  more  slowly.  The 
luxury  trades  continued  depressed,  but  the  transfer  of  workers 
from  one  industry  to  another  and  even  from  one  district  to 
another  relieved  the  situation  from  the  workers'  standpoint.^  In 
such  trades  as  the  textile,  boot  and  shoe,  and  in  agriculture, 
female  labor  was  being  substituted  for  males  at  a  rapid  rate. 

Unemployment  among  trade  unionists,  as  shown  by  returns 
made  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  had  by  April  reached  a  percentage 
"  lower  than  in  any  month  during  the  last  twenty-five  years  "  * 
and  every  subsequent  month  in  that  year  showed  a  further 
decrease.*  By  June  the  unemployed  in  the  insured  trades  was 
less  than  one  per  cent.^ 

The  Labour  Gazette  in  its  review  of  the  employment  situation 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  thus  summarizes  the  situation  at 
the  close  of  the  first  year  of  the  war  period:  ^ 

Owing  to  the  large  number  of  enlistments  the  number  of  males  available 
has  greatly  decreased.  To  meet  this  shortage  of  labor  there  has  been  a 
considerable  transference  from  trades  adversely  affected  by  the  war  to  other 
industries  which  were  rendered  abnormally  active ;  in  addition  there  has  been, 
wherever  possible,  a  growing  movement  in  the  direction  of  substituting  fe- 
male for  male  labor.  The  net  result  is  that  at  the  present  time  there  is  very 
little  unemployment,  except  in  a  few  luxury  trades,  while  in  a  number  of 


1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  79. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  235. 


3  Ibid.,  p.  155 
*/bid.,  p.  1. 
^Ibid.,  p.  265, 
'^Ibid.,  p.  273. 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC   AND    READJUSTMENT  55 

industries,  notably  coal  mining,  engineering,  shipbuilding,  agriculture  and 
transport,  the  demand  for  labor  greatly  exceeds  the  supply. 

Government  efforts  of  an  unusual  sort  to  relieve  distress  due  to 
unemployment  seem  practically  to  have  ceased  by  the  end  of 
1914.  This  does  not  mean  that  such  distress  no  longer  existed, 
but  that  such  agencies  as  existed  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  or 
had  been  created  to  meet  the  emergency  were  found  to  be  able 
to  cope  with  the  situation. 

The  number  of  paupers,  which  had  suddenly  increased  in 
August  and  September,  1914,  showed  a  steady  decline  month  by 
month  thereafter.  In  June,  1915,  the  number  in  England  and 
Wales  was  584,580, 

a  smaller  number  than  has  been  recorded  for  the  end  of  June  in  any  year 
since  1875  (the  first  year  to  which  the  return  relates)  in  spite  of  the  rise  in 
population.  The  rate  per  thousand  of  the  population  was  15.8,  as  compared 
with  16.7  and  16.8  in  June  of  the  two  previous  years,  and  rates  exceeding  20 
per  thousand  in  1910  and  every  preceding  year.  The  decline  was  common 
to  all  districts,  and  was  shown  in  both  indoor  and  outdoor  pauperism.* 

We  have  already  noted  the  cessation  of  emergency  grants  to 
the  trade  unions  in  May,  1915.  The  number  of  persons  who 
received  employment  relief  through  distress  committees  was  115 
in  August,  1915,  as  compared  with  580  in  July,  1914,  and  2,843 
in  August  of  that  year.^ 

Relief  of  Disabled  Soldiers  and  Sailors 

One  form  of  government  assistance  in  finding  employment 
became  increasingly  necessary  as  the  war  continued.  This  had 
to  do  with  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors  and  presented  in  some 
respects  a  new  problem.  No  systematic  method  of  dealing  with 
the  situation  was  made  until  February,  1915,  when  the  President 
of  the  Local  Government  Board  appointed  a  "  committee  to  con- 
sider and  report  upon  the  methods  to  be  adopted  for  providing 
employment  for  soldiers  and  sailors  disabled  in  the  war."     Sir 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  301. 
2/&id.,  pp.  307,  346. 


66  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

George  Murray  was  made  chairman.  The  committee  made  its 
report  in  May,  1915. 

The  committee,  after  declaring  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  state 
to  assume  the  care  of  the  sailors  and  soldiers  disabled  by  the  war, 
stated  that  , 

this  duty  should  include  (a)  the  restoration  of  the  man's  health,  where 
practicable;  (b)  the  provision  of  training  facilities,  if  he  desires  to  learn 
a  new  trade;  (c)  the  finding  of  employment  for  him,  when  he  stands  in 
need  of  such  assistance.^ 

To  accomplish  this  work  it  was  recommended  that  a  central 
committee  be  appointed,  to  have  the  assistance  of  local  subcom- 
mittees wherever  needed,  and  empowered  to  act  through  existing 
agencies  where  practicable  or  independently,  if  need  be. 

The  functions  of  the  committee  would  be:  (a)  to  arrange  for  the 
care  and  treatment  of  all  disabled  sailors  and  soldiers,  immediately  on 
their  discharge,  with  the  view  of  restoring  them  to  health,  when  possible, 
and  enabling  them  to  earn  their  own  living;  (b)  to  obtain  early  information 
of  approaching  discharges  from  hospital  and  to  arrange  for  the  registration 
of  every  disabled  man,  who  was  capable  of  work,  with  the  labor  exchange 
of  the  district  to  which  he  was  going;  (c)  to  communicate  with  public  de- 
partments with  the  view  of  obtaining  employment  therein  foi*  such  disabled 
men  as  could  properly  be  appointed  to  vacancies;  (d)  to  organize  public  or 
private  appeals  to  employers  in  order  to  secure  their  good  will  in  filling  any 
vacancies  which  were  suitable  for  disabled  men ;  (e)  to  appoint  local  com- 
mittees (where  necessary),  or  local  representatives,  to  assist  the  committee 
generally  in  the  performance  of  its  duties  and  especially  in  finding  employ- 
ment and  negotiating  with  employers;  (f)  to  organize  and  assist  schemes  for 
training  men  who  were  desirous  of  obtaining  technical  instruction  to  fit 
them  for  skilled  occupations,  and  to  arrange  for  their  maintenance  during 
the  period  of  training;  (g)  to  consider  and  deal  with  schemes  for  employ- 
ing disabled  men  in  agriculture  and  the  industries  allied  with  it;  (h)  to  ar- 
range for  the  emigration  of  men  who  were  desirous  of  settling  in  other 
parts  of  the  Empire.^ 

The  committee  discovered  that  between  September  11  (the 
date  of  the  earliest  discharges  from  the  army)  and  the  date  of 

^  Report  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  Local  Gov- 
ernment Board  upon  the  provision  of  employment  for  sailors  and  soldiers 
disabled  in  the  war   (Cd.  7915),  p.  8. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  6. 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC   AND    READJUSTMENT  57 

their  report  (May  4,  1915),  a  period  of  nearly  eight  months, 
2,874  persons  had  been  discharged  on  account  of  incapacity.  This 
was  at  the  rate  of  360  a  month.  The  rate  of  discharge  at  the 
time  of  making  the  report  was  about  1,000  per  month.  The 
committee  admitted  that  there  might  be  some  increase  in  the 
number  of  incapacitated  as  the  number  of  men  engaged  in  hos- 
tihties  increased.^ 

One  important  point  covered  by  the  committee's  report  related 
to  the  effect  of  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  in  causing 
reluctance  on  the  part  of  employers  to  accept  the  services  of 
partially  disabled  men,  because  of  the  liability  imposed  upon 
employers  by  the  act.  The  committee  discovered  that  insurance 
companies  did  not,  save  in  very  exceptional  cases,  charge  an 
additional  premium  on  account  of  physical  disability.  The  com- 
mittee said : 

We  think,  therefore,  that  no  objection  is  likely  to  be  taken  on  this  ground 
to  the  employment  of  a  disabled  man,  except  where  the  employer  had  re- 
frained from  covering  his  liability  by  insurance.^ 

Emigration  and  Immigration 

Ordinarily  the  movements  of  emigration  and  immigration  are 
closely  related  to  employment  conditions  within  a  country.  In 
normal  years  Great  Britain  loses  a  considerable  number  of  her 
citizens  to  Canada,  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  other  of  her 
colonies  as  well  as  to  the  United  States  and  other  countries.  The 
number  of  persons  of  British  nationality  who  leave  Great  Britain 
to  take  up  their  permanent  residence  in  these  countries  is  larger 
than  the  considerable  number  who  return  to  Great  Britain  from 
the  colonies  and  elsewhere  to  reside  permanently  in  the  mother 
country.  In  1913  the  excess  of  emigrants  of  this  sort  was 
303,685  and  1913.  it  must  be  remembered,  was  a  year  of  unusual 
prosperity  in  Great  Britain,  when  the  motive  to  migrate  in  order 
to  better  economic  conditions  would  naturally  be  weak. 

During  the  first  seven  months  of  1914  industrial  conditions  in 

*  Report  on  Disabled  Soldiers,  pp.  2-3. 
2  Ibid.,  pp.  7-8. 


68  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

Great  Britain  were  still  favorable,  but  were  not  so  good  as  in 
1913.  In  spite  of  this  fact,  however,  we  find  an  almost  steady 
decline  in  the  number  of  emigrants,  due  apparently  to  the  fact 
that  economic  conditions  in  the  United  States  and  the  British 
colonies  were  not  such  as  to  attract  large  numbers  of  immigrants. 
The  first  effect  of  the  war  seems  to  have  been  to  stimulate  emi- 
gration from  Great  Britain,  as  we  find  that  the  number  of  emi- 
grants suddenly  increased  from  18,960  in  August  to  21,542  in 
September,  At  the  same  time  the  number  of  immigrants  declined 
from  8,993  in  August  to  5,954  in  September.^  There  are  indica- 
tions that  the  explanation  of  this  changed  condition  is  to  be  found 
in  a  desire  to  escape  military  service,  as  the  increase  in  emigra- 
tion was  mainly  to  the  United  States.  After  September,  how- 
ever, the  tide  changed  and  by  November  there  was  an  excess 
of  immigrants,  amounting  to  3,492,  The  change  was  chiefly 
due  to  the  large  homeward  trend  of  Canadians  who  were  appar- 
ently returning  to  the  mother  country  to  enlist  in  British  regi- 
ments, although  the  increased  demand  for  male  labor  may  have 
attracted  some.  With  the  exception  of  the  month  of  January, 
the  excess  of  immigrants  over  emigrants  continued  throughout 
the  whole  of  1915.^ 

Changes  in  Rate  of  Wages 

One  would  naturally  expect  that  the  increased  demand  for  labor 
in  the  closing  months  of  1914  would  reflect  itself  not  only  in 
more  steady  employment  but  in  higher  rates  of  wages.  No 
marked  change  of  this  sort  took  place,  however,  in  1914,  if  we 
consider  the  industries  collectively. 

During  the  first  seven  months  of  1914  (the  period  before  the 
war)  the  total  number  of  people  whose  rates  of  wages  decreased 
was  larger  than  the  total  number  of  people  whose  rates  of  wages 
increased,  but  the  explanation  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
decreases  took  place  in  the  mining,  pig  iron,  and  iron  and  steel 
industries,  where  wages  were  governed  by  a  sliding  scale  and  fell 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  pp.  390,  425. 

2  Ibid.,  1916,  p.  74, 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC    AND   READJUSTMENT  59 

with  a  decline  in  the  selling  prices  of  coal  and  iron/     In  other 
industries  wages  showed  an  increase. 

After  the  outbreak  of  the  war  an  exact  reversal  of  conditions 
took  place.  Prices  of  coal  and  iron  began  to  rise  and  wages  in 
these  industries  automatically  advanced.  Other  industries,  how- 
ever, like  the  textile,  clothing,  printing,  etc.,  suffered  a  more  or 
less  temporary  decline  in  their  prosperity  and  here  rates  of  wages 
did  not  advance,  but  in  some  cases  fell. 

In  consequence  of  these  diverse  movements,  the  net  amount  of  the  changes 
in  rates  of  wages  for  the  whole  year  was  very  small,  being  an  increase  of 
only  £5,062  per  week.2 

Changes  in  hours  of  labor  in  1914  affected  79,135  of  whom 
78,689  had  their  hours  reduced.^  For  the  first  six  months  of  the 
war  changes  in  rates  of  wages  were  few,*  but  by  February,  1915, 
a  sharp  upward  tendency  was  noticeable.  The  increases  generally 
took  the  form  of  bonuses  granted  for  the  duration  of  the  war 
and  were  allowed  on  the  ground  that  they  were  necessary  to  meet 
the  rise  in  the  cost  of  living. **  Aside  from  increases  made  under 
.the  sliding  scale  in  the  iron  and  steel  industries,  the  increases  in 
January  and  February  were  most  notable  for  the  engineering, 
building,  textile  and  transport  workers.^ 

The  increases  which  took  place  in  March,  1915,  were  much 
more  numerous  and  affected  a  much  wider  range  of  trades. 

Not  only  was  the  number  of  increases  or  bonuses  much  above  the  average, 
but  also  the  amounts  were  in  most  cases  greater  than  those  granted  in 
previous  periods  of  rising  wages.'' 

No  decreases  were  reported  for  this  month  and  446,267  persons 
shared  in  the  increases,  which  were  especially  numerous  in  the 
engineering,  shipbuilding,  transport  and  textile  trades.  The 
increases  frequently  took  the  form  of  a  10  per  cent  increase  in 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  309. 

2  Ibid.,  1915.  p.  3. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  4. 

*  "  During  the  last  five  months  of  1914  there  were  practically  no  important 
advances  in  wages."     Cole:  Labour  in  War  Time,  p.  143. 
5  Labour  Gazette.  1915,  p.  105. 
«/&id..  pp.  67,  105. 
7  Ibid.,  p.  142. 


60  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

piece  rates  or  of  war  bonuses  of  from  5  to  12^  per  cent,  or  from 
Is.  to  4s.  a  week  for  time  workers. 

Besides  the  changes  given  in  the  table,  war  bonuses  and  other 
increases  are  mentioned  as  having  been  granted  to  government 
employes,  to  railway  servants,  to  seamen  and  to  agricultural 
laborers.^  In  April,  there  were  further  large  increases  in  rates 
of  wages,  but  the  upward  movement  was  less  marked  than  in 
March.^  In  May,  however,  came  another  great  upward  move- 
ment. "  The  amount  of  the  increase  in  weekly  wages  were  [sic] 
the  largest  ever  recorded  in  a  single  month."  ^  The  increases 
were  chiefly  in  the  coal  mining  industry,  which  had  823,900  out 
of  the  969,680  work  people  who  received  increases  during  this 
month.  The  war  bonuses  in  this  industry  were  frequently  as 
much  as  15%  per  cent  on  the  existing  wages,  which  were  in  some 
places  65  per  cent  higher  than  the  basis  rates  of  1878  or  1879.* 

Further  increases  in  wages  were  made  in  June  and  July.  The 
Labour  Gazette,  in  reviewing  the  changes  made  during  the  first 
year  of  the  war,  said  that  the  total  number  of  work  people  whose 
rates  of  wages  were  affected  by  the  war  was  2,336,700  and  that 
the  net  increases  amounted  to  £12,585  per  week.  "  These  figures 
are  much  in  excess  of  those  recorded  for  any  previous  year."  At 
first  the  increases,  taking  the  form  of  war  bonuses,  were  in  these 
industries  concerned  directly  with  the  output  of  munitions.  Later 
they  were  extended  to  most  of  the  industries  of  the  country,  "  the 
principal  exceptions  being  the  building,  printing  and  furnishing 
trades."  ^  The  increase  of  the  earnings  of  the  workers  was 
much  greater  than  the  increase  in  the  rates  of  wages,  since  much 
overtime  was  worked  in  some  of  the  trades,  and  usually  paid  for 
at  higher  rates  than  for  ordinary  day  work. 

Changes  in  Prices 

Having  observed  the  effect  of  the  first  year's  war  on  wages  let. 
us  turn  our  attention  to  the  changes  in  prices  which  took  place 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  pp.  142-143.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  223-224. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  184.  «  Ibid.,  p.  300. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  223. 


INDUSTRIAL   PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  61 

and  which  were  said  to  have  been  the  cause  of  the  more  or  less 
voluntary  increase  in  the  rates  of  wages. 

The  Board  of  Trade  Labour  Gazette,  calculating  its  index  num- 
bers for  forty-seven  separate  articles  weighted  according  to  esti- 
mated consumption,  discovered  that,  compared  with  prices  in 
1913,  the  prices  for  the  first  seven  months  of  1914  were  2% 
per  cent  below  and  for  the  last  five  months  of  1914,  5,2  per  cent 
above  the  1913  level.^  The  advance  was  entirely  in  the  food, 
drink  and  tobacco  and  miscellaneous  groups :  the  coal  and  metals 
and  the  textile  groups  showed  a  decline  in  the  price  level.  The 
greatest  advances  took  place  in  the  prices  of  sugar,  wheat,  oats 
and  timber.^ 

We  have  already  observed  the  effect  of  the  August  (1914) 
panic  in  sending  upward  the  retail  prices  of  food.  Prices  which 
on  the  8th  of  the  month  were  15  or  16  per  cent  higher  than  in 
July  receded  after  that  date  until  at  the  end  of  the  month  they 
were  about  10  per  cent  above  the  August  level.  From  then  on 
they  advanced  and  the  advance  continued  throughout  the  first 
year  of  the  war.  The  percentages  above  so-called  "  normal 
prices  "  in  July,  1914,  on  the  first  day  of  each  month  are  as 
follows : ' 


Per  cent  Per  cent 

September,  1914  10  March,  1915  24 

October,  1914  12  April,  1915  24 

November,  1914  13  May,  1915  26 

December,  1914  16  June,  1915  32 

January,    1915    18  July,  1915   32*/, 

February,   1915    22  August,   1915    (July  31)    34 

The  advances  were  greatest  in  the  case  of  sugar,  fish,  flour  and 
beef,  lowest  in  the  case  of  margarine,  milk,  bacon  and  butter. 
Although  the  Board  of  Trade  has  worked  out  no  index  number 
for  wages  during  this  period  and  a  direct  comparison  between 
wages  and  food  prices  is  therefore  impossible,  it  is  probable  that 


1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  158. 
2/&tU,  p.  159. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  275. 


62  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  advance  in  wages  during  the  first  year  of  the  war  was  not  as 
great  as  the  advance  which  took  place  in  the  retail  prices  of  food. 
The  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  claims  that  "  the  standard  working 
class  budget,"  which  would  have  cost  22s.  6d.  in  the  summer  of 
1904,  and  25s.  8d.  in  1914,  would  by  July  1,  1915,  have  cost 
"  something  more  than  33s."  ^ 

Recrudescence  of  Strikes 

With  the  great  increase  in  food  prices  and  the  apparent  failure 
of  wages  to  advance  during  the  early  months  of  the  war,  it  is 
perhaps  not  surprising  that  trade  unionists  should  begin  to  regret 
the  implied  promise  made  on  their  behalf  by  the  conference  of 
labor  leaders  on  August  24,  when  it  was  agreed  to  make  an  efifort 
to  terminate  existing  trade  disputes  and  to  settle  further  diffi- 
culties arising  during  the  war,  if  possible,  by  amicable 
means.^ 

Even  at  the  time  the  "  industrial  truce  "  was  declared,  there 
were  some  among  the  labor  writers  who  felt  that  a  mistake  had 
been  made  in  declaring  the  truce  unconditionally.  This  feeling 
grew  as  prices  continued  to  advance  during  the  closing  months  of 
1914,  and  industry  after  industry  began  to  prosper  through  gov- 
ernment orders  without  any  effort  being  made  by  the  government 
to  induce  employers  to  advance  wages.^  Such  steps  as  were  taken 
by  the  Chief  Industrial  Commissioner  on  behalf  of  the  govern- 
ment during  these  months  were  in  the  direction  of  discouraging 
disputes,  in  order  that  production  might  not  be  interfered  with, 
and  temporary  settlements  were  arranged  which  usually  took  the 
form  of  maintaining  the  status  quo.^ 

The  number  of  industrial  disputes,  which  as  we  have  seen  had 
fallen  to  as  low  a  figure  as  fifteen  in  August,  slowly  increased 
after  that  month,  being  twenty-three  for  September,  twenty- 
seven  for  October,  twenty-five  for  November  and  seventeen  for 
December.     The  increase  is  more  apparent  than  real,  however, 

1  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  212. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  22. 

5  Cole :  Labour  in  War  Time,  pp.  44-45. 

*  "  Railway  Conciliation  Scheme,"  Labour  Gazette,  1914,  p.  362. 


INDUSTRIAL    PANIC    AND   READJUSTMENT  63 

for  practically  all  of  these  disputes  were  of  an  insignificant 
character,  involving  directly  or  indirectly  very  few  workers. 
Industrial  peace  was  most  nearly  realized  in  December  when  the 
seventeen  new  disputes  involved  directly  and  indirectly  only 
1,192  workers  and  all  disputes  (old  and  new)  in  progress  that 
month  involved  only  3,065  workers. 


These  causes  (says  Mr.  Cole)  combined  to  create  a  partial  change  of 
attitude  on  the  part  of  trade  unionists  by  the  New  Year.  The  first,  but  per- 
haps the  least  important,  was  the  government's  policy  in  its  dealings  with 
trade  unionism;  the  second  was  the  rise  in  the  cost  of  living;  the  third, 
probably  the  greatest  in  its  psychological  effect,  was  the  growing  suspicion 
that  the  capitalists  were  making  a  good  thing  out  of  the  war.^ 


Although  the  month  of  January,  1915,  showed  some  increase 
in  the  number  and  importance  of  industrial  disputes,  the  first 
really  important  breach  in  the  "  industrial  truce  "  was  not  made 
until  February.  During  that  month  the  number  of  disputes  begun 
during  the  month  rose  to  forty-seven,  involving  directly  and  indi- 
rectly 29,000  workers.  In  February  the  railway  servants  who  in 
November  had  agreed  to  suspend  their  demand  for  changed  con- 
ditions made  a  demand  upon  the  companies  for  increased  wages. 
A  settlement  was  made  by  which  the  companies  agreed  to  pay  a 
war  bonus  of  3s.  a  week  to  all  men  earning  less  than  30s.,  and  of 
2s.  a  week  to  all  who  were  earning  more  than  30s. 

This  agreement  was  subject  to  considerable  criticism  by  labor- 
ers in  other  industries  and  occupations.  It  served  as  a  precedent 
among  employers  whenever  demands  were  made  for  advances  in 
wages  due  to  war  conditions.  The  amount  of  the  advance  was 
insufficient,  it  was  claimed,  to  bring  real  wages  to  prewar  condi- 
tions in  view  of  the  very  considerable  advance  in  the  cost  of  living. 
The  three  shilling  bonus  allowed  to  workers  receiving  less 
than  30s.  a  week  meant  an  advance  in  money  wages  of  10-|-  per 
cent.  By  February  the  percentage  increase  of  retail  food  prices 
over  prices  for  July,  1914,  was  from  twenty  to  twenty-three  and 
according  to  "  the  standard  working  class  budget "  worked  out 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  pp.  4,  25.    Cole,  op.  cit.,  p.  140. 


64  BRITISH   LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1904,  66  per  cent  of  family  incomes 
between  twenty-five  and  thirty  shillings  a  week  went  for 
food/  The  2s.  a  week  bonus  allowed  to  employes  receiving  over 
30s.  a  week  took  even  less  account  of  the  advance  in  the  cost  of 
living. 

The  chief  criticism  of  the  railway  agreement,  however,  per- 
tained not  to  the  amount  but  to  the  form  of  the  increase  of  wages. 
The  2s.-3s.  increase  was  a  "  war  bonus,"  not  a  permanent  increase 
of  wages. 

When  once  a  war  bonus  had  been  accepted  in  any  great  industry,  it  became 
difficult,  if  not  impossible^  for  workers  in  other  industries  to  secure  per- 
manent advances.2 

The  ground  of  the  criticism  of  the  war  bonuses  is  briefly  this: 
that  at  the  end  of  the  war,  when  industrial  readjustment  is  tak- 
ing place  and  labor  is  weakest  in  bargaining  power,  the  bonuses 
will  disappear  and  labor  will  have  to  enter  into  new  agreements 
concerning  standard  rates.  Under  the  circumstances,  will  labor- 
ers be  able  to  retain  any  of  the  war  increases? 

Whether  the  trade  unionists,  had  they  refused  the  war  bonuses, 
could  have  persuaded  employers  to  make  any  considerable  per- 
manent advances  in  wages  during  the  uncertainty  prevailing  in 
the  first  year  of  the  war,  may  well  be  doubted,  but  it  is  probable 
that,  in  view  of  the  government's  desire  to  have  the  good  will  of 
organized  labor,  public  opinion  would  have  supported  them  in 
demanding  that  wage  increases  be  made  to  fluctuate  with  changes 
in  the  cost  of  living,  as  measured  by  fluctuations  in  the  prices  of 
certain  commodities ;  the  extent  of  these  fluctuations  to  be  ascer- 
tained at  certain  regular  intervals  by  the  Board  of  Trade. 

We  are  dealing,  however,  not  with  "  what  might  have  been," 
but  with  what  actually  took  place.  Believing  that  they  were  not 
bound  by  the  terms  of  the  "  industrial  truce,"  declared  by  their 
leaders  and  which  had  never  been  a  stipulated  agreement,  the 
unionists  resumed  their  stoppages  of  work  early  in  1915. 

^Labour  Year  Book.  1916,  p.  211. 
2  Cole,  op.  cit.,  pp.  144-145. 


industrial  panic  and  readjustment  65 

The  Clyde  Strike 

The  first  of  these  stoppages  was  that  caused  by  the  strike  of 
the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers  employed  in  the  Clyde 
shipyards.  It  began  on  February  16,  1915,  and  soon  spread  to 
nearly  all  the  engineering  shops  on  the  Clyde,  involving  some  9,000 
workers/  The  three  years'  agreement  entered  into  in  1912  had 
come  to  an  end  in  January,  1915.  In  their  negotiations  for  a 
renewal,  the  men  were  demanding  an  increase  of  2d.  an  hour  and 
this  demand  had  been  decided  upon  even  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.^  The  employers  made  counter  proposals  and  matters 
dragged  on  until  February,  when  the  employers  offered  an  in- 
crease of  %d.  an  hour,  but  offered  it  in  the  form  of  a  war  bonus. 
Its  acceptance  was  recommended  by  the  national  executive  of 
the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,  but  the  men,  not  even 
waiting  for  the  results  of  a  ballot  on  the  question  of  accepting  it, 
ceased  work.  The  ballot  on  the  employers'  proposal,  when  com- 
pleted, showed  that  it  had  been  rejected  by  a  vote  of  8,927  to 
829.^ 

The  government  now  decided  to  intervene.  On  February  4 
there  had  been  appointed  a  government  Committee  on  Production 
in  engineering  and  shipbuilding  establishments,  whose  duties  were 

to  inquire  and  report  forthwith,  after  consultation  with  the  representatives 
of  employers  and  workmen,  as  to  the  best  steps  to  be  taken  to  insure  that  the 
productive  power  of  the  employes  in  engineering  and  shipbuilding  establish- 
ments working  for  government  purposes  shall  be  made  fully  available  so  as 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  nation  in  the  present  emergency.* 

The  chairman  of  this  committee  was  Sir  George  Askwith, 
Chief  Industrial  Commissioner.  He  sent  a  letter  on  February 
26  to  both  employers  and  workers  in  the  Clyde  dispute,  which 
contained  the  following  striking  paragraphs : 

I   am   instructed   by   the   government   that   important    munitions    of   war 
urgently  required  by  the  navy  and  army  are  being  held  up  by  the  present 

1  Cole,  op.  cit.,  p.  147. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  148. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  151. 

*Zabour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  53. 


66  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

cessation   of  work  and  that  they  must  call   for  a   resumption  of  work  on 
Monday  morning,  March  I. 

Immediately  following  resumption  of  work  arrangements  will  be  made 
for  the  representatives  of  the  parties  to  meet  the  Committee  on  Production 
in  engineering  and  shipbuilding  establishments  for  the  purpose  of  the  matters 
in  dispute  being  referred  for  settlement  to  a  court  of  arbitration,  who  shall 
also  have  power  to  fix  the  date  from  which  the  settlement  shall  take 
effect. 

The  language  of  this  communication  clearly  implies  that  the 
government  then  had  the  right  to  order  a  resumption  of  work. 
There  is  some  doubt  as  to  whether  this  is  true,  but  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers  urged  the 
men  to  resume  work.  The  Central  Withdrawal  of  Labor  Com- 
mittee, on  the  other  hand,  advised  the  men  to  resume  work  on 
March  4,  three  days  after  the  date  set  by  the  government's  request. 
Work  was  actually  resumed  on  March  3.  Employers  and  em- 
ployes being  unable  to  agree  on  the  terms  of  settlement,  the  mat- 
ter was  referred  by  request  of  the  government  to  arbitration  by 
the  Committee  on  Production.  The  award  of  this  committee  gave 
the  engineers  an  advance  of  Id.  an  hour  on  existing  wages.  It 
gave  this  advance  not  as  a  permanent  increase  of  wages,  but  it  was 

to  be  regarded  as  war  wages  and  recognized  as  due  to  and  dependent  on  the 
existence  of  the  abnormal  conditions  now  prevailing  in  consequence  of  the 


Thus  the  Committee  on  Production  adopted  at  the  outset  the 
precedent  set  by  the  railway  agreement  of  making  wage  increases 
take  the  form  of  war  bonuses. 

Upon  what  principle  the  advance  was  fixed  at  Id.  per  hour 
does  not  appear.  The  laborers  themselves  complained  bitterly 
that  the  advance  was  not  sufficient  to  bring  the  standard  rate  up 
to  the  level  in  other  parts  of  Great  Britain  or  to  cover  the  ri?c 
in  the  cost  of  living  prior  to  the  war,  let  alone  the  advance  in 
such  costs  since  the  war  began. ^ 

Particular  attention  has  been  given  to  the  Clyde  strike  because 
its  settlement  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  policy  of  the  govern- 

1  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  52. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  52-53.    Cole,  op.  cit.,  pp.  153-154. 


INDUSTRIAL   PANIC   AND   READJUSTMENT  67 

ment  towards  labor,  a  policy  which  developed  through  a  period  of 
several  months  and  found  its  fruition  in  the  enactment  of  "  The 
Munitions  of  War  Acts."  Before  tracing  the  course  of  the 
developments,  however,  we  will  notice  the  efforts  made  by 
employers  and  trade  unions  in  the  engineering  trades  to  agree  on 
a  program  of  production  during  war  times. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Government  and  the  Trade  Unions 

Disagreement  in  the  Engineering  Trades 

The  engineering  trades  were  among  the  first  to  experience  a 
shortage  of  labor  due  to  the  war.  This  was  due  primarily  to  the 
unusual  demands  made  upon  them  by  the  government  to  supply 
munitions  of  war.  It  is  also  said  that  ten  thousand  workers 
from  this  industry  enlisted  in  the  first  few  months  of  the  war. 
From  whatever  cause,  the  shortage  of  labor  made  itself  felt  in 
this  industry  very  soon  and  was  acute  by  November,  1914. 

In  December  the  Engineering  Employers'  Federation  proposed 
to  the  unions  that  they  modify  (practically  abandon)  their  regu- 
lations as  to  skilled  and  unskilled,  nonunion  and  female  labor, 
the  demarcation  of  work  between  trades  and  the  limitation  of 
overtime.  They  offered  guarantees  that  the  federated  employers 
would  resume  the  old  conditions  at  the  close  of  the  war  and  that 
payment  of  the  standard  rates  would  be  maintained.^ 

The  unions  would  not  agree  to  these  propositions,  basing  their 
refusal  on  the  following  grounds : 

(1)  The  proposals  were  only  from  the  federated  employers 
and  could  bind  only  members  of  the  federation.  Only  the 
government's  promise  to  enforce  the  guarantees  could 
solve  the  difficulty. 

(2)  At  the  end  of  the  war,  when  there  was  a  surplus  of  labor, 
the  employers  would  have  the  advantage  and  competition 
would  have  the  effect  of  lowering  wages,  despite  the 
guarantees.^ 

The  unions  on  their  part  made  counter  proposals : 

1  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  53. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  54. 

68 


THE   GOVERNMENT   AND   THE    TRADE    UNIONS  69 

(1)  Firms  not  engaged  on  war  work  to  be  given  such  work. 

(2)  Firms  working  short  time  to  transfer  their  workers  to 
firms  engaged  on  government  work. 

(3)  Employers  and  unionists  jointly  to  request  the  govern- 
ment to  pay  subsistence  allowance  money  to  men  working 
in  places  at  a  distance  from  their  homes. 

(4)  That  the  government  draft  skilled  engineers  from  the 
colonies. 

(5)  That  skilled  engineers  who  had  enlisted  be  withdrawn 
from  military  service  and  be  restored  to  industry. 

The  employers  held  that  the  proposals  of  the  unions  did  not 
"  provide  any  adequate  remedy  for  the  present  difficulty  of 
obtaining  the  necessary  supply  of  work  people."  They  also 
expressed  their  "  disappointment  that  their  proposals  to  assist 
the  country  should  have  met  with  no  response."  ^ 

The  men  naturally  resented  the  implication  that  they  were 
unpatriotic,  but  further  conferences  failed  to  lead  to  an  agree- 
ment. As  to  the  practicability  of  the  unions'  suggestions,  the 
authors  of  the  Labour  Year  Book  say :  ^ 

It  is  an  interesting  commentary  on  the  bluff  (sagacity)  of  the  employers 
that  practically  all  the  workers'  proposals  have  since  been  adopted  by  the 
government. 

While  the  government's  Committee  on  Production  was  still  at 
work  and  before  it  had  issued  its  report,  Mr.  H.  J.  Tennant, 
Under  Secretary  of  War,  made  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons which  met  with  much  criticism  from  trade  unionists  and 
members  of  the  Labor  party.  He  asked  the  Labor  members  of 
Parliament  to  use  their  influence  to  get  the  unions  to  relax  their 
rules,  but  did  not  indicate  that  the  government  was  willing  to 
protect  the  workers  against  the  natural  results  of  such  relaxations 
or  that  the  government  would  also  ask  employers  to  limit  their 
profits  in  order  that  both  sides  might  make  sacrifices  to  assist  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  war.  The  Labor  members  replied  that  this 
was  a  matter  which  the  government  should  take  up  directly  with 
the  unions.     The  government  eventually  did  so,  but  before  this 

1  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  54. 
» Ibid.,  p.  55. 


70  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

took  place  an  industrial  dispute  arose  in  the  settlement  of  which 
the  unionists  obtained  certain  concessions  which  exercised  much 
influence  on  subsequent  negotiations  between  the  government  and 
the  unions. 

The  dispute  was  in  the  Elswick  works  of  Armstrong,  Whit- 
worth  &  Company,  one  of  the  largest  engineering  firms  in 
Great  Britain  and  one  which  was  at  the  time  working  almost 
entirely  on  government  work.  The  company  had,  contrary  to 
trade  union  rules,  engaged  unskilled  workers  from  "  depressed 
industries,  coppersmiths,  lace  makers,  cotton  operatives,  silver- 
smiths," and  the  like,  and  put  them  to  work  on  skilled  jobs.  The 
engineers  and  shipbuilders  objected  and  posted  notices  of  a 
strike. 

A  conference  between  the  management  and  delegates  from 
each  shop  was  called  and  at  this  conference  an  agreement  was 
reached  which  was  to  become  operative  until  the  question  could 
be  referred  to  a  central  conference  between  the  unions  and  the 
employers'  federation.  The  important  terms  in  this  provisional 
agreement,  most  of  which  in  one  form  or  another  later  were 
incorporated  in  the  Munitions  Act,  were  as  follows : 

(1)  That  whatever  the  class  of  labor  taken  on,  the  district  rate  for  the 
job  must  always  be  paid;  (2)  that  the  unions  should  inspect  not  only  the 
credentials  of  the  imported  workers,  but  also  the  actual  work  done  by  them; 
(3)  that  the  employers  should  furnish  a  complete  return  of  all  unskilled 
men  taken  on  together  with  the  name  of  their  unions ;  (4)  that  the  services 
of  such  workers  should  be  dispensed  with  at  the  end  of  the  war,  and  that 
copies  of  the  list  containing  their  names  be  sent  to  every  member  of  the 
Engineering  Employers'  Federation,  with  the  instructions  that  they  should  in 
no  case  be  employed;  (5)  that  for  the  present  no  further  unskilled  workers 
be  set  on  skilled  jobs,  and  that  the  unions  be  consulted  on  all  doubtful 
cases.*^ 

The  subsequent  national  negotiations  with  the  employers  did 
not  result  in  any  agreement,  but  the  provisional  agreement  with 
this  large  firm  helped  to  put  the  workers  in  a  strategical  position 
when  the  government  took  up  the  matter  of  trade  union  rules. 

1  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  55.    Cole,  Labour  in  War  Time,  pp.  174-175. 


the  government  and  the  trade  unions  "71 

Reports  of  the  Committee  on  Production 

The  Committee  on  Production  issued  four  reports  from  Febru- 
ary 16  to  March  4  inclusive,  dealing  respectively  with  (1) 
"  Irregular  Time  Keeping,"  (2)  "  Shells  and  Fuses  and  Avoid- 
ance of  Stoppage  of  Work,"  (3)  "Demarcation  of  Work,"  and 
(4)  "  Wages  in  Shipbuilding  Trade." 

The  report  on  irregular  time  keeping  in  ship  yards,  issued 
February  16,  dealt  with  the  failure  to  attain  the  maximum  output 
of  work  because  of  time  lost  by  riveting  squads.  Riveting  is 
carried  on  by  "squads"  or  groups  of  workers.  When  any 
member  of  the  squad  was  absent,  his  place  was  not  filled  but  the 
whole  squad  remained  idle.  The  committee  did  not  indicate  in 
any  specific  way  how  the  difficulty  was  to  be  overcome,  but  urged 
that  the  parties  directly  concerned  should  make  an  effort  to  arrive 
at  some  satisfactory  arrangement.  If  an  agreement  was  not 
reached  within  ten  days  the  committee  recommended  that  any 
outstanding  difference  should  be  referred  to  the  committee  for 
immediate  and  final  settlement. 

The  report  on  shells  and  fuses,  issued  on  February  20,  dealt 
with  trade  union  rules  which  had  the  effect  of  limiting  the  output 
of  munitions  of  war. 

Restrictive  rules  or  customs  calculated  to  affect  the  production  of  muni- 
tions of  war  or  to  hamper  or  impede  any  reasonable  steps  to  achieve  a  max- 
imum output  are  under  present  circumstances  seriously  hurtful  to  the  welfare 
of  the  country,  and  we  think  they  should  be  suspended  during  the  period  of 
the  war,  with  proper  safeguards  and  adjustments  to  protect  the  interests  of 
the  work  people  and  their  trade  unions.* 

The  committee  recommended  that  the  men  making  shells  and 
fuses  should  relax  their  practice  of  confining  their  earnings  on  a 
piece  rate  basis  to  "  time  and  half  "  or  whatever  the  local  standard 
might  be.  It  recognized  that  the  practice  had  been  adopted  to 
prevent  cutting  of  piece  rates,  but  pointed  out  that  the  govern- 
ment was  the  only  consumer  of  shells  and  fuses  and  had  no  motive 
for  cutting  rates.    It  recommended  that  firms  making  shells  and 

^Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  83. 


72  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

fuses  for  the  government  give  an  undertaking  to  the  committee 
not  to  consider  the  earnings  of  the  men  as  a  factor  in  making 
new  piece  rates  and  not  to  cut  existing  rates,  unless  this  was  war- 
ranted by  a  change  in  machinery. 

A  second  recommendation  made  by  the  committee  was  that 
female  labor  be  more  largely  employed  "  under  suitable  and 
proper  conditions  in  the  production  of  shells  and  fuses."  ^ 

The  second  portion  of  the  report  issued  on  February  20  had 
to  do  with  "  Avoidance  of  Stoppage  of  Work."  After  express- 
ing the  opinion  that,  in  establishments  engaged  on  productive 
work,  employers  and  workmen  should,  during  the  war,  "  under 
no  circumstances  allow  their  differences  to  result  in  a  stoppage  of 
work,"  the  committee  recommended  that  the  government  immedi- 
ately publish  the  following  recommendation  and  ask  government 
contractors,  subcontractors  and  trade  unions  to  declare  their 
adhesion  to  the  recommendation : 

Avoidance  of  stoppages  of  work  for  government  purposes.  With  a  view 
to  preventing  loss  of  production  caused  by  disputes  between  employers  and 
work  people,  no  stoppage  of  work  by  strike  or  lockout  should  take  place  on 
work  for  government  purposes.  In  the  event  of  differences  arising  which 
fail  to  be  settled  by  the  parties  directly  concerned,  or  by  their  representatives, 
or  under  any  existing  agreements,  the  matter  shall  be  referred  to  an  impartial 
tribunal  nominated  by  His  Majesty's  government  for  immediate  investiga- 
tion and  report  to  the  government  with  a  view  to  a  settlement. 

In  order  to  safeguard  the  position  of  the  trade  unions  and  of 
the  work  people,  the  committee  recommended  that  firms  contract- 
ing with  the  government  be  required  to  give  an  undertaking,  to  be 
held  on  behalf  of  the  unions,  in  the  following  terms: 

To  His  Majesty's  Government 

We  hereby  undertake  that  any  departure  during  the  war  from  the  prac- 
tice ruling  in  our  workshops  and  shipyards  prior  to  the  war  shall  only  be 
for  the  period  of  the  war. 

No  change  in  practice  made  during  the  war  shall  be  allowed  to  prejudice 
the  position  of  the  work  people  in  our  employment  or  of  their  trade  unions 
in  regard  to  the  resumption  and  maintenance  after  the  war  of  any  rules  or 
customs  existing  prior  to  the  war. 

In  any  readjustment  of  staff  which  may  have  to  be  effected  after  the  war, 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  83. 


THE   GOVERNMENT   AND   THE   TRADE   UNIONS  73 

priority  of  employment  will  be  given  to  workmen  in  our  employment  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  who  are  serving  with  the  colors  or  who  are  now  in 
our  employment. 

Name  of  firm 

Date 1 


The  third  report  issued  by  the  committee  dealt  with  the  subjects 
of  demarcation  of  work  and  utilization  of  semi-skilled  or  un- 
skilled labor. 

The  committee  urged  that  in  government  establishments  where, 
apparently,  demarcation  restrictions  were  not  numerous,  they  be 
at  once  suspended.  In  private  engineering  and  shipbuilding 
establishments  they  also  recommended  the  suspension  of  demar- 
cation restrictions  on  work  required  for  government  purposes 
during  the  continuance  of  the  war,  accompanied  by  the  follow- 
ing safeguards : 

(a)  Men  usually  employed  on  the  work  to  be  given  the  prefer- 
ence. 

(b)  If  suitable  labor  were  not  available  locally  men  might  be 
brought  from  a  distance  if  the  work  were  of  sufficient 
magnitude  to  warrant  the  transfer  and  if  the  work  would 
not  be  delayed  by  waiting  for  them. 

(c)  The  customary  rates  should  continue  to  be  paid  for  the 
jobs. 

(d)  A  record  of  the  nature  of  the  departures  from  the  statu 
quo  should  be  kept. 

(e)  Difficulties  arising  between  the  parties  which  they  had 
not  settled  should  be  referred  within  seven  days  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  for  speedy  settlement  and  in  the  meantime 
there  should  be  no  stoppage  of  work. 

(f)  The  same  form  of  guarantee  to  work  people  prescribed 
in  the  Stoppage  of  Work  report  should  be  adopted.^ 

The  second  part  of  this  report  dealt  with  the  utilization  of 
semi-skilled  or  unskilled  labor.  The  committee  recommended 
the  use  of  such  labor  whenever  an  employer  working  on  govern- 
ment work  was  "  unable  to  meet  the  requirements  because  of  his 

^labour  Gazette,  1915,  pp.  83-84. 


74  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

inability  to  secure  the  necessary  labor  customarily  employed  on 
the  work,"  provided  that  the  use  of  unskilled  or  semi-skilled  labor 
was  surrounded  with  "  proper  safeguards  and  adjustments  to 
protect  the  interests  of  the  work  people  and  their  trade  unions."  ^ 

The  success  of  the  recommendations  depended  upon  the  will- 
ingness of  the  unions  to  accept  them.  The  government  therefore 
undertook  to  secure  the  acceptance  by  the  unions  of  the  principles 
underlying  the  recommendations.  The  government  itself  was 
quick  to  announce  its  concurrence  in  the  committee's  recom- 
mendation concerning  the  avoidance  of  stoppage  of  work  and 
immediately  named  the  Production  Committee  itself  as  the  tri- 
bunal to  settle  disputes.  It  was  apparently  under  this  authority 
that  the  committee  acted  when  it  intervened  in  the  Clyde  strike 
and  called  for  a  resumption  of  work  on  March  1. 

The  fourth  report  made  by  the  committee  was  issued  on  March 
1  and  contained  the  terms  of  settlement  of  the  Clyde  engineer- 
ing strike,  which  have  already  been  given. 

Amendment  of  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Act 

The  Defense  of  the  Realm  Consolidation  Act,  1914  (5  Geo. 
5,  c.  8),  enacted  November  27,  1914,  was  amended  on  March 
16,  1915,  so  that  Subsection  3  of  Section  1  read  as  follows: 

It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Admiralty  or  Army  Council  or  the  Minister  of 
Munitions  (a)  to  require  that  there  shall  be  placed  at  their  disposal  the 
whole  or  any  part  of  the  output  of  any  factory  or  workshop  of  whatever 
sort  or  the  plant  thereof ;  (b)  to  take  possession  of  and  use  for  the  purpose 
of  His  Majesty's  naval  or  military  service  any  factory  or  workshop  or  any 
plant  thereof ;  (c)  to  require  any  work  in  any  factory  or  workshop  to  be 
done  in  accordance  with  the  directions  of  the  Admiralty  or  Army  Council  or 
the  Minister  of  Munitions,  given  with  the  object  of  making  the  factory  or 
workshop,  or  the  plant  or  labor  therein,  as  useful  as  possible  for  the  pro- 
duction of  war  material;  and  (d)  to  regulate  or  restrict  the  carrying  on  of 
any  work  in  any  factory,  workshop  or  other  premises,  or  the  engagement 
or  employment  of  any  workmen  or  all  or  any  classes  of  workmen  therein, 
or  to  remove  the  plant  therefrom,  with  a  view  to  maintaining  or  increasing 
the  production  of  munitions  in  other  factories,  workshops  or  premises,  or 
to  regulate  and  control  the  supply  of  metals  and  material  that  may  be  re- 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  84. 


THE   GOVERNMENT   AND    THE    TRADE   UNIONS  Y5 

quired  for  any  articles  for  use  in  war;  and  (e)  to  take  possession  of  any 
unoccupied  premises  for  the  purpose  of  housing  workmen  employed  in  the 
production,  storage,  or  transport  of  war  material ;  and  regulations  under  this 
act  may  be  made  accordingly. 

It  is  hereby  declared  that  when  the  fulfilment  by  any  person  or  any  con- 
tract is  interfered  with  by  the  necessity  on  the  part  of  himself  or  any  other 
person  of  complying  with  any  requirement,  regulation  or  restriction  of  the 
Admiralty  or  the  Army  Council  or  the  Minister  of  Munitions  or  the  Food 
Controller  under  this  act,  or  any  regulations  made  thereunder  that  necessity 
is  a  good  defense  to  any  action  or  proceedings  taken  against  that  person  in 
respect  of  the  nonfulfilment  of  the  contract  so  far  as  it  is  due  to  that 
interference. 

In  this  subsection  the  expression  "  war  material "  includes  arms,  ammuni- 
tion, warlike  stores,  and  equipment  and  everything  required  for  or  in  con- 
nection with  the  production  thereof.^ 


The  Treasury  Conference 

Armed  with  this  persuasive  measure  the  government,  on  the 
day  following  the  passage  of  the  above  amendment,  invited  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Trades  Union  Congress,  the  General  Federa- 
tion of  Trade  Unions  and  of  the  principal  unions  in  the  industries 
producing  commodities  for  government  use  to  a  conference  with 
the  Chancellor  of  Exchequer  (Mr.  Lloyd  Greorge)  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trade  (Mr.  Runciman) 

to  consider  the  general  position  in  reference  to  the  urgent  need  of  the 
country  in  regard  to  the  large  and  a  larger  increase  in  the  output  of  muni- 
tions of  war,  and  the  steps  which  the  government  propose  to  take  to  or- 
ganize the  industries  of  the  country  with  a  view  to  achieving  that  end.* 

The  invitation  was  pretty  generally  accepted.  Besides  repre- 
sentatives from  the  two  federal  bodies  above  mentioned,  there 
were  representatives  from  unions  in  the  following  industries: 
engineering,  shipbuilding,  iron  and  steel,  other  metal  trades, 
wood  workers,  laborers,  transport,  woolen  and  boot  and  shoe. 
The  Miners'  Federation  of  Great  Britain  was  represented  on  the 
first  day,  but  its  representatives  withdrew  because  they  were 

1  Manuals  of  Emergency  Legislation.  Defense  of  the  Realm  Manual,  3d 
enlarged  edition  revised  to  February  28,  1917,  p.  3   (a). 

2  Labour  Year  Book.  1916,  p.  59. 


76  BRITISH   LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

unwilling  even  to  consider  and  discuss  proposals  for  compulsory 
arbitration.^ 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  explained  to  the  conference  the  powers  given 
to  the  government  by  the  amended  Defense  of  the  Realm  Act  and 
said  that  it  called  for  the  full  cooperation  of  employers  and  em- 
ployed. He  asked  the  unions  to  accept  arbitration  and  to  relax 
the  trade  union  rules  under  adequate  safeguards  and  proposed 
that  this  be  accompanied  by  a  limitation  of  profits,  "  because  we 
see  that  it  is  very  difficult  for  us  to  appeal  to  labor  to  relax  re- 
strictions and  to  put  out  the  whole  of  its  strength,  unless  some 
condition  of  this  kind  is  imposed." 

A  subcommittee  of  seven  was  appointed  to  draw  up,  in  con- 
sultation with  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  Mr.  Runciman,  proposals 
for  submission  to  the  conference.  The  proposals  submitted  the 
next  day  were  along  the  lines  proposed  in  the  recommendations 
of  the  Committee  on  Production  and  contained:  (1)  an  agree- 
ment that  during  the  war  there  should  be  no  stoppage  of  labor  on 
work  required  for  a  satisfactory  completion  of  the  war,  but  that 
all  industrial  disputes  which  could  not  be  settled  by  agreement  of 
the  parties  should  be  made  the  subject  of  arbitration  by  one  of 
the  following: 

(a)  the  Committee  on  Production; 

(b)  a  single  arbitrator  agreed  upon  by  the  parties  or  appointed 
by  the  Board  of  Trade ; 

(c)  a  court  'of  arbitration  upon  which  labor  is  represented 
equally  with  the  employers. 

If  none  of  these  methods  were  acceptable  to  both  parties,  a 
settlement  should  be  made  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  (2)  A  pro- 
posal that  the  government  appoint  an  advisory  committee  repre- 
sentative of  the  organized  workers  to  facilitate  the  carrying  out 
of  the  recommendations.  (3)  An  agreement  to  relax  trade  union 
practices  and  customs  in  order  to  accelerate  the  output  of  war 
munitions  or  equipment,  provided  that  the  government  require  all 
contractors  and  subcontractors  engaged  on  war  work  (a)  to 
give  an  undertaking  to  restore  at  the  close  of  the  war,  without 
prejudice  to  the  position  of  the  work  people  or  their  unions, 

1  Labour  Year  Book,  p.  78,  note. 


THE    GOVERNMENT   AND    THE   TRADE    UNIONS  77 

any  practice  ruling  in  their  shops  or  yards  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war;  (b)  to  give  preference  of  employment  to  workmen  in 
their  employ  at  the  beginning  of  the  war;  (c)  to  pay  semi-skilled 
men  called  upon  to  perform  work  which  had  been  done  by  skilled 
workers  the  usual  rates  of  the  district  for  that  work;  (d)  to  keep 
a  record  of  the  nature  of  the  departure  from  conditions  prevail- 
ing at  the  time  of  the  agreement  and  to  keep  this  record  open  to 
inspection  by  the  authorized  representatives  of  the  government; 
(e)  to  give  notices  to  the  workmen,  wherever  practicable,  of 
changes  in  working  conditions  which  it  was  proposed  to  intro- 
duce, and  to  furnish  an  opportunity  for  consultation  with  them 
or  their  representatives;  and  (f)  to  settle  disputes  without  stop- 
pages of  work  by  one  of  the  methods  above  described.^ 

The  representatives  of  all  the  unions  represented  at  the  con- 
ference, except  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,  endorsed 
the  proposed  agreement.  It  seems  to  have  been  generally  under- 
stood that  the  agreement  reached  at  this  Treasury  Conference 
was  an  agreement  entered  into  by  the  unions  there  represented, 
but  in  form  it  was  merely  an  agreement  of  the  signers  to  "  recom- 
mend to  their  members  "  the  proposals  submitted  by  the  com- 
mittee. Mr.  Arthur  Henderson,  the  Chairman  of  the  Workers' 
Representatives  at  the  conference,  said  that  the  agreement  had 
no  binding  force  until  it  had  been  submitted  to  the  unions 
concerned.^ 

The  failure  of  the  representatives  of  the  Amalgamated  Society 
of  Engineers  to  sign  the  agreement  was  considered  by  the  gov- 
ernment to  be  a  serious  omission,  in  view  of  the  strength  of  that 
union  in  the  munitions  factories.  The  representatives  of  the  en- 
gineers felt  that  the  agreement  did  not  sufficiently  safeguard  their 
members,  and  they  were  also  dissatisfied  because  the  agreement 
did  not  express  the  government's  declared  intention  to  limit  war 
profits. 

A  further  conference  between  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  Mr.  Run- 
ciman  and  the  representatives  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of 
Engineers  was  held  on  March  25,  and  the  following  important 

1  Labour  Year  Book.  1916,  pp.  60-61. 

2  Cole,  op.  cit.,  p.  185. 


78  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

additions  to  the  agreement  were  made,  after  which  the  engineers 
gave  their  signatures  to  the  agreement. 

1.  That  it  is  the  intention  of  the  government  to  conclude  arrangements 
with  all  important  firms  engaged  wholly  or  mainly  upon  engineermg  and 
shipbuilding  work  for  war  purposes,  under  which  these  profits  will  be 
limited  with  a  view  to  securing  that  benefit  resulting  from  the  relaxation  of 
trade  restrictions  or  practices  shall  accrue  to  the  state. 

2.  That  the  relaxation  of  trade  practices  contemplated  in  the  agreement 
relates  solely  to  work  done  for  war  purposes  during  the  war  period. 

3.  That  in  the  case  of  the  introduction  of  new  inventions  which  were  not  in 
existence  in  the  prewar  period  the  class  of  workmen  to  be  employed  on  this 
work  after  the  war  should  be  determined  according  to  the  practice  prevailing 
before  the  war  in  the  case  of  the  class  of  work  most  nearly  analogous. 

4.  That  on  demand  by  the  workmen  the  government  department  concerned 
will  be  prepared  to  certify  whether  the  work  in  question  is  needed  for  war 
purposes. 

5.  That  the  government  will  undertake  to  use  its  influence  to  secure  the 
restoration  of  previous  conditions  in  every  case  after  the  war.^ 

The  government  proceeded  at  once  to  appoint  the  advisory 
committee  provided  for  in  the  agreement,  naming  as  the  mem- 
bers thereof  the  seven  labor  leaders  ^  who  had,  as  members  of 
the  subcommittee,  presented  the  proposals  to  the  union  repre- 
sentatives at  the  Treasury  Conference. 

The  Treasury  Conference  agreement  was  very  favorably  re- 
ceived by  public  and  press  throughout  England.  This  much  is 
admitted  by  Mr.  Cole,  who  is  throughout  critical  of  the  recom- 
mendations, the  effect  of  which,  he  says,  "  was  to  weaken,  rather 
than  to  strengthen,  trade  unionism,"  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was 
very  enthusiastic  over  the  results  of  the  conference  and  said  that 
the  "  document  that  was  signed  on  Friday  night  ought  to  be  the 
great  charter  for  labor."  ^ 

1  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  61.    Cole,  op.  cit.,  pp.  188-189. 

2  Mr.  Arthur  Henderson,  M.P.  (Ironfounders),  Mr.  C.  W.  Bowerman, 
M.P.  (Parliamentary  Committee),  Mr.  W.  Moses  (Pattern  Makers),  Mr. 
John  Hill  (Boiler  Makers),  Mr.  A.  Wilkie,  M.P.  (Shipwrights),  Mr.  Frank 
Smith   (Cabinet  Makers),  and  Mr.  J.  T.  Brownlie   (Engineers). 

3  Cole,  op.  cit.,  pp.  189-190. 


the  government  and  the  trade  unions  y9 

Administration  of  the  Treasury  Agreement 

In  order  to  carry  into  effect  the  terms  of  the  agreement  local 
munitions  committees  were  set  up  in  the  chief  centers  of  ship- 
building, especially  on  the  northeast  coast  and  on  the  Clyde. 
The  committees  were  made  up  like  the  trade  boards,  of  an  equal 
number  of  representatives  of  employers  and  workmen  with  an 
additional  number  of  impartial  persons  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernment. The  important  difference  between  these  committees 
and  the  trade  boards,  however,  was  the  fact  that  they  dealt  not 
with  wages  "  but  with  the  management  and  control  of  industry."  * 
Speaking  enthusiastically  of  the  committee  formed  on  the  north- 
east coast  which  had  on  it  seven  representatives  of  workers  and 
seven  of  the  employers,  Mr.  Cole  has  this  to  say  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  new  system : 

The  committee  has,  moreover,  a  far  wider  significance  than  any  immediate 
advantage  the  workers  can  hope  to  gain  from  it.  It  will  go  down  to  history 
as  the  first  definite  and  official  recognition  of  the  right  of  the  workers  to  a 
say  in  the  management  of  their  own  industries.  Here,  for  the  first  time, 
the  nominees  of  the  workers  meet  those  of  the  masters  on  equal  terms,  to 
discuss  not  merely  wages,  hours,  or  conditions  of  labor,  but  the  actual  busi- 
ness of  production.  Under  stress  of  the  emergency  the  workers  are  being 
recognized,  however  grudgingly,  as  partners  in  industry.^ 

.This  may  be  an  extravagant  statement,  especially  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  shortly  after  the  Munitions  Act  was  passed  these 
committees  disappeared  and  their  work  passed  into  the  hands  of 
officials  created  under  the  authority  of  that  act.^  The  real  sig- 
nificance of  the  committees  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  the  new  organ- 
ization of  industry  being  developed  as  a  result  of  war  needs,  the 
trade  unions  were  being  given  recognition  as  an  essential  part  of 
the  organization. 

The  Committee  on  Production  appointed  by  the  government 
in  February  continued  its  work  during  the  spiing  of  1915,  en- 
deavoring to  prevent  stoppages  of  work  on  government  contracts 
by  adjusting  wages,  generally  allowing  increases  in  the  form  of 

1  Labour  Year  Book.  1916,  p.  62. 

2  Cole,  op.  cit.,  p.  198. 


80  BRITISH   LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

"  war  wages,  recognized  as  due  to  and  dependent  on  the  ex- 
istence of  the  abnormal  conditions  now  prevailing  in  consequence 
of  the  war."  ^  The  wage  settlements  seem  to  have  been  made 
in  accordance  with  no  general  principle,  such  as  the  increase  in 
cost  of  living.  In  some  cases  this  seems  to  have  been  the  con- 
trolling motive  as,  for  example,  on  the  Newcastle-upon-Tyne 
tramways  when  higher  allowances  were  made  "  to  employes 
who  are  householders  "  than  to  single  men,  and  in  other  cases 
where  bonuses  were  allowed  only  to  men  receiving  below  a  cer- 
tain stated  sum  per  week.  In  other  cases,  however,  other  con- 
siderations dominated,  as  in  the  cement  trade,  where  "  the  ad- 
verse effect  that  the  war  has  exercised  and  is  exercising  upon  the 
cement  trade  "  was  sufficient  to  influence  the  committee  to  allow 
no  further  increase  of  wages  beyond  the  5  per  cent  advance  volun- 
tarily offered  by  the  employers.^ 

Meanwhile,  trade  disputes  which,  as  we  have  seen,  reached 
their  minimum  in  intensity  in  December,  1914,  began  to  increase 
at  a  rapid  rate  in  the  early  part  of  1915,  as  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing table : ' 

No.  OF  No.  OF  Work  People  Affected 

Month  Disputes  Directly  Directly  and  Indirectly 

December,  1914 17  1,190  1,192 

January,  1915 30  3,436  4,082 

February,    1915 47  26,129  29,007 

March,   1915    74  12,982  16,359 

April,  1915 44  5,137  5,577 

May,  1915 63  39,913  48,240 

June,  1915 72  17,904  22,230 

From  the  governmental  standpoint  the  most  serious  phase  of 
this  increase  was  that  the  disputes  were  mainly  in  those  indus- 
tries, engineering,  coal  mining  and  transport,  upon  which  the 
increasing  output  of  munitions  of  war  was  mainly  dependent. 
Most  of  the  disputes  were  over  the  question  of  wages  and  in 
spite  of  the  activity  of  the  Committee  on  Production,  it  was  evi- 

^  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  pp.  120-121,  162-164. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  203-205. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  66,  104,  141.  183,  222,  261. 


THE   GOVERNMENT   AND   THE   TRADE   UNIONS  81 

dent  that  further  steps  needed  to  be  taken  if  the  output  of  war 
material  was  to  be  brought  up  to  its  maximum.  Before  these 
steps  were  taken,  however,  an  event  occurred  which  further 
tended  to  compHcate  matters. 


The  Drink  Problem 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  made  a  series  of  speeches  in  April,  in  one 
of  which  he  laid  great  emphasis  upon  the  influence  of  "  the  lure 
of  drink  "  among  the  working  classes  as  a  factor  responsible  for 
the  insufficient  supply  of  munitions.  The  speech  was  widely 
circulated  by  the  newspapers  and  was  quickly  seized  upon  by 
those  who  were  advocating  prohibition  of  the  use  of  intoxicants 
during  war  time.  The  basis  of  the  attack  was,  presumably,  a 
report  on  lost  time  in  war  industries  which  was  presented  to  the 
House  of  Commons  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  was  made  public 
on  Labor  Day,  May  1. 

The  report  claimed  that  in  the  Clyde,  Tyne  and  Barrow  dis- 
tricts the  situation  in  respect  to  shipbuilding,  repairs  and  muni- 
tions of  war  work  put  briefly  was 

that  now,  while  the  country  is  at  war,  the  men  are  doing  less  work  than 
would  be  regarded  as  an  ordinary  week's  work  under  normal  peace  con- 
ditions.i 

Instances  were  cited  where  the  time  lost  by  riveters  in  the  ship- 
yards "  equals  about  35  per  cent  of  the  normal  week's  work ; 
platers  25  per  cent;  and  the  caulkers  and  drillers  about  22  per 
cent."  Among  fitters  on  submarine  engine  work  "  on  the  aver- 
age each  man  did  little  more  than  three  quarters  of  a  day's 
work."  "  The  problem,"  it  was  said,  "  is  not  how  to  get  the 
workmen  to  increase  their  normal  peace  output,  but  how  to  get 
them  to  do  an  ordinary  week's  work  of  51  or  53  hours  as  the 
case  may  be."  ^ 

1  Report  and  statistics  of  bad  time  kept  in  shipbuilding,  munitions  and 
transport  areas,  p.  2. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  2,  3,  5. 


82  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

The  reasons  for  the  loss  of  time  (continues  the  report)  are  no  doubt 
various,  but  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  the  most  potent  is  in  the  facilities 
which  exist  for  men  to  obtain  beer  and  spirits  combined  with  the  high  rates 
of  wages  and  abundance  of  employment.  Opinion  on  this  point  is  practically 
unanimous. 

A  great  deal  of  statistical  evidence  was  submitted  by  employers 
in  the  shipbuilding  industry  to  show  the  extent  to  which  lost  time 
due,  as  they  believed,  to  excessive  drinking,  interfered  with  the 
output.  The  report  summarized  this  evidence  in  the  following 
statement : 

The  evidence  is  really  overwhelming  that  the  main  cause  of  this  alarming 
loss  of  time  is  the  lure  of  drink.  The  employers  say  so  most  emphatically ; 
the  Admiralty  have  received  elaborate  reports  emphasizing  the  same  con- 
clusion in  the  case  of  shipbuilding,  repairs,  munitions  of  war  and  transport. 
The  Home  Office  reports  are  to  the  same  effect,  and  the  detailed  figures  sum- 
marized above  are,  in  themselves,  strong  evidence  that  drink  is  the  cause.  A 
section  of  each  class  of  workmen  keep  perfectly  good  time  throughout  the 
week,  and  therefore  the  cause  is  not  one  which  is  common  to  all  workmen, 
or  due  to  any  general  industrial  condition.  The  worst  time  is  generally 
kept  after  wages  are  paid,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  following  week.  When 
absence  from  work  occurs  the  workman  is  usually  absent  for  several  days  to- 
gether. Staleness  and  fatigue  no  doubt  must  arise  from  working  during 
long  hours  over  an  extended  period,  but  inasmuch  as  half  the  men  are  not 
in  fact  working  for  more  than  45  hours  a  week,  the  cause  must  be  found 
elsewhere.  The  testimony  af  observers  in  each  district  is  that  drink  is  by  far 
the  most  important  factor.  .  .  .  The  contention  that  the  cause  of  irregular 
hours  is  the  excessive  time  worked  is  completely  disposed  of  by  observing 
that  on  average  the  time  worked  is  unfortunately  not  so  great  as  the  standard 
in  time  of  peace.  The  figures  show,  not  that  workmen  who  have  been 
working  long  hours  for  days  together  occasionally  take  a  day  off,  but  that 
while  some  workmen  are  working  steadily  day  by  day  for  long  hours,  those 
who  fail  to  work  even  ordinary  hours  are  continually  repeating  this  failure.^ 

While  the  evidence  to  the  effect  that  much  time  was  lost  in  the 
shipbuilding  yards  on  account  of  drink  seems  overwhelming,  it 
must  be  said  that  the  impressions  left  by  the  report  were  more  or 
less  unfair  to  the  majority  of  the  men  in  the  engineering  and 
shipbuilding  trades.  This  was  pointed  out  in  the  report  by  one 
of  the  factory  inspectors.    He  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 

irregular  time  is  confined  largely  to  certain  specific  trades :  riveters,  caulkers, 
platers,   riggers,  and  to  a  very  much  less  extent,  engineers  are  tlv*.  chief 

1  Report,  etc.,  p.  15. 


THE    GOVERNMENT    AND    THE   TRADE    UNIONS  83 

offenders;   such  tradesmen  as  pattern  makers,  molders,  turners,  and  time 
workers  generally  keep  relatively  good  time.^ 

Furthermore,  he  showed  that  drinking  was  not  the  only  cause 
of  lost  time.  Much  of  the  lost  time  was  due  to  the  practice  which 
we  have  already  observed  of  riveters  and  platers  working  in 
squads.  When,  for  any  reason,  one  member  of  the  squad  failed 
to  appear,  four  or  five  men  would  lose  a  morning's  or  even  a 
day's  work  and  the  lost  time  of  these  men  would  figure  in  the 
employer's  statistics. 

The  same  inspector  threw  some  light  on  the  reasons  for  the 
absences  of  the  riveters,  which,  if  not  an  excuse,  at  least  deserves 
a  place  in  the  explanation  of  their  dereliction.    He  said : 

Riveting  is  hard  and  exhausting  work,  and  it  is  frequently  and  neces- 
sarily carried  on  in  trying  conditions — exposure  in  winter  to  bitter  cold  and 
damp.  The  temptation  to  take  a  morning  or  a  day  off  during  very  cold  or 
very  hot  weather  is  great,  as  the  riveter  knows  he  is  indispensable  at  present, 
and  will  not  lose  his  job  if  he  does  lie  off.  Moreover  his  pay  is  sufficient, 
even  with  a  partial  week's  work,  to  keep  him  and  his  family  in  comfort. 
The  machine  men  working  under  cover  are  in  a  comfortable  shop  and  have 
not  the  same  temptation  to  lie  off.  Again  the  pay  is  relatively  much  less, 
and  being  time  workers  they  can  not  make  up  the  lost  time  by  a  special  spurt. 
Another  important  point  frequently  overlooked  is  that  at  present,  owing  to 
the  extraordinary  scarcity  of  skilled  labor,  men  who  in  ordinary  times  would 
never  be  employed  on  account  of  their  irregular  habits,  are  at  work  in  many 
yards,  and  materially  affect  the  numbers  of  those  losing  time.  Briefly,  I  am 
convinced  that  the  "  black  squad  "  piece  workers  have  not  risen  much  above 
the  social  position  of  the  man  earning  30s.  a  week,  yet  their  remuneration  is 
equal  to  that  of  a  professional  man.  They  have  not  yet  been  educated  to 
spend  their  wages  wisely,  and  the  money  is  largely  wasted,  for  they  have 
few  interests  and  little  to  spend  their  wage  on  apart  from  alcohol.^ 

Mr.  Lloyd  George's  speech  and  the  allegations  made  in  the 
report  were  warmly  resented  in  labor  circles  and  the  Labor  party 
in  the  House  of  Commons  protested  against  the  report,  in  which 
Mr.  Arthur  Henderson  said  "  all  the  evidence  against  the  work- 
ers is  that  of  employers  or  officials,"  and  demanded  and  secured 
the  promise  of  the  government  to  appoint  a  committee  of  inquiry 
on  which  labor  should  be  represented.' 

1  Report,  etc.,  p.  24. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  25. 

»  Cole,  op.  cit.,  pp.  200-207.    Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  pp.  62-63. 


84  british  labor  conditions  and  legislation 

Ministry  of  Munitions 

Dissatisfaction  with  the  progress  of  the  war  caused  a  change 
in  the  government  in  May,  1915.  The  Liberal  Ministry  resigned 
and  its  place  was  taken  by  a  Coalition  Ministry  in  which  Labor 
was  represented.  On  the  9th  of  June  a  new  government  depart- 
ment was  created  known  as  the  Ministry  of  Munitions,  "  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  munitions  for  the  present  war,"  ^  and  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  appointed  Minister  of  Munitions  "  to  examine 
into  and  organize  the  sources  of  supply  of  any  kind  of  munitions 
of  war."  =^ 

At  first  it  was  believed,  and  apparently  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
himself,  that  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Acts  conferred  upon  him 
sufficient  power  to  control  the  labor  situation.  It  was  soon  seen, 
however,  that  there  were  important  gaps  in  that  legislation.  They 
gave  the  government  power  to  take  over  any  private  works 
needed  and  to  order  the  workers  to  work,  so  long  as  they  re- 
mained there,  exactly  as  the  government  directed,  but  it  did  not 
confer  upon  the  government  power  to  compel  the  workers  to 
remain  in  its  employ.^  In  other  words  the  government  had  no 
authority  to  prevent  strikes.  There  was  much  talk  about  this 
time  of  "  conscription  of  labor." 

Every  one,  it  was  urged,  who  was  not  a  soldier  or  a  worker  in  some  ab- 
solutely essential  trade,  should  be  forced  into  the  making  of  munitions,  and 
martial  law  should  be  proclaimed  in  the  workshops.* 

In  order  to  formulate  a  policy  for  the  conduct  of  his  work, 
the  Minister  of  Munitions,  held  a  number  of  conferences  with 
labor  leaders  to  discuss  proposals  for  meeting  the  emergency."* 
The  National  Labor  Advisory  Committee  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernment as  a  result  of  the  Treasury  Conference  agreement  in 
consultation  with  the  minister  drew  up  proposals  which  were  put 
before  "  a  full  conference  of  trade  union  leaders  representing 

1 5  and  6  Geo.  5.  c.  51.     Manual  of  Emergency  Legislation,  Supplement 
4,  p.  14. 
2  Order  in  Council,  June  16,  1915. 
8  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  63. 
*  Cole,  op.  cit.,  p.  208. 
^Ibid.,  p.  215. 


THE   GOVERNMENT   AND   THE   TRADE   UNIONS  85 

the  munition  industries."  ^  They  were  carried  by  a  majority  of 
the  conference  though  a  minority  of  the  representatives  were 
opposed  to  the  provisions  for  compulsory  arbitration. 

Thus  prepared,  the  Munitions  Bill  was  introduced  and  with 
relatively  little  discussion  was  passed  by  Parliament  on  July  2 
and  became  the  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915.^ 

^Cole,  op.  cit.,  p.  215.  They  did  not  include  representatives  of  the  miners 
or  the  cotton  operatives. 

2  5  and  6  Geo.  5.  c.  54.  Manual  of  Emergency  Legislation,  Supplement  4, 
pp.  17-26. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Munitions  of  War  Acts 

The  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  together  with  its  amend- 
ments (constituting  practically  a  revision  of  the  act)  of  January 
27,  1916,  and  August  21,  1917,  is  the  most  important  piece  of 
labor  legislation  which  has  been  enacted  by  Parliament  during  the 
war.  Its  foundation  is  the  recommendations  of  the  Committee 
on  Production,  made  in  February  and  March,  1915,  modified  and 
enlarged  by  agreements  entered  into  between  the  government  and 
leading  trade  unionists  at  conferences  held  in  March  and  June, 
as  already  related.  The  act  is  entitled  "  An  act  to  make  pro- 
vision for  furthering  the  efficient  manufacture,  transport  and 
supply  of  munitions  for  the  present  war;  and  for  purposes  in- 
cidental thereto,"  and  it  was  made  necessary  by  a  realization  of 
the  fact  that 

an  overwhelming  supply  of  munitions  of  war  for  Great  Britain  and  her 
allies  was  the  essential  element  in  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war,  and, 
to  attain  this,  the  organization  of  an  important  section  of  the  British  indus- 
trial world  upon  a  new  basis  became  imperative.^ 

Although  the  act  has  been  severely  criticized  by  some  of  the 
labor  writers  and  socialists  in  Great  Britain,  even  to  the  extent  of 
calling  its  acceptance  by  Parliament  "  scandalous,"  ^  and  of  say- 
ing that  its  enactment  came  "  like  a  thief  in  the  night,"  ^  yet  it 
must  be  remembered  that  leading  trade  unionists  and  members  of 

1  T.  A.  Fyfe:  Employers  and  Workmen  under  ike  Munitions  of  War  Acts, 
2d  ed.,  p.  1.  For  purposes  of  convenient  reference  I  have  in  addition 
to  referring  to  the  sections  of  the  Munitions  Acts,  1915  and  1916,  made 
references  to  the  text  of  the  codification  of  the  acts  as  given  by  Mr.  Fyfe. 
In  my  abstract  of  the  principal  provisions  of  the  act  I  have  also  madel 
free  use  of  Mr.  Fyfe's  comments  and  interpretations,  which  is  justified  by 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Fyfe,  in  addition  to  being  chairman  of  a  munitions  tribunal, 
is  a  judge  of  His  Majesty's  courts  in  Glasgow, 

2  Cole :  Labour  in  War  Time. 

3  Mary  McArthur :  The  Woman  Worker,  January,  1916,  p.  5. 

86 


THE    MUNITIONS    OF    WAR   ACTS  87 

the  Labor  party  were  consulted  at  every  stage  of  its  preparation 
and  enactment  and  are,  indeed,  largely  responsible  for  the  form 
and  substance  of  the  acts.  Whether  or  not,  viewed  from  a  labor 
standpoint,  the  Munitions  Act  be  considered  a  wise  or  an  unwise 
piece  of  legislation,  it  can  not  be  truthfully  said  that  it  was  en- 
acted in  defiance  of  labor  or  without  giving  their  representatives 
an  opportunity  to  consider  it  and  to  suggest  amendments. 

As  a  carefully  drawn  and  consistently  prepared  piece  of  legis- 
lation, not  much  can  be  said  for  the  original  Munitions  Act  or 
for  the  government's  clumsy  method  of  amendment.  As  Mr. 
Fyfe  says: 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  form  the  Amending  Act  (of  1916)  took  was 
not  the  total  repeal  of  the  original  act,  and  the  reenactment  of  its  clauses 
along  with  the  amendments  in  an  entirely  new  act.^ 

In  many  respects  the  act  seems  to  have  been  drafted  backwards, 
since  portions  of  Part  III  deal  with  matters  necessary  to  an  un- 
derstanding of  Parts  I  and  II,  and  Part  II  contains  sections  and 
clauses  which,  logically,  should  come  before  Part  I. 

In  the  following  abstract  of  the  main  provisions  of  the  acts  I 
have  not  attempted  to  follow  the  order  in  which  the  various  sec- 
tions appear  in  the  parliamentary  measure. 

The  acts  are  frankly  stated  to  be  emergency  legislation;  to 
"  have  eflFect  only  so  long  as  the  office  of  Minister  of  Munitions 
and  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  exists,"  ^  and  the  act  creating  the 
Ministry  declared  that  it  should  cease  to  exist  at  a  period  not 
later  than  twelve  months  after  the  conclusion  of  war.  It  is  also 
provided  that  the  obligations  contained  in  Schedule  II,  whereby 
the  owners  of  establishments  agree  to  restore  prewar  conditions 
among  their  employes,  shall  continue  to  be  binding  on  such 
owners  for  twelve  months  after  the  end  of  the  war.^ 

The  act  is  divided  into  three  parts.  Part  I  deals  with  differ- 
ences which  may  arise  between  employers  and  employes  and  the 
modes  of  settling  them.    Part  II  deals  with  what  are  known  as 

1  Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  1st  ed.,  p.  2. 

2  Sec.  20  (2),  Fyfe.  2d  ed..  p.  83. 


88  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

"  controlled  establishments,"  rates  of  wages  and  limitation  of 
profits  in  such  establishments,  restrictions  on  the  right  to  employ 
and  be  employed  on  munitions  work,  conditions  under  which 
workers  may  leave  or  be  discharged  from  such  service,  and  the 
conditions  under  which  female  labor  may  be  employed  on  muni- 
tions work.  Part  III  (made  up  largely  of  amendments)  deals 
with  the  power  of  the  Minister  of  Munitions  to  regulate  or  re- 
strict the  work  of  any  factory  or  to  remove  machinery  to  any 
other  factory  or  to  control  the  supply  of  materials  for  the  purpose 
of  increasing  the  production  of  munitions.  It  also  deals  with 
matters  of  inspection,  with  information  to  be  furnished  by 
employers,  with  munitions  tribunals,  with  penalties,  and  with  the 
definition  of  terms  used  in  the  act. 

The  Munitions  Acts  may  be  considered  as  an  extension  of  the 
Defense  of  the  Realm  Acts,  especially  of  those  portions  which 
deal  with  the  production  of  munitions.^  They  authorize  the  Ad- 
miralty or  Army  Council  or  Minister  of  Munitions  to  take  pos- 
session of  and  use  for  the  purpose  of  naval  or  military  service 
any  factory,  workshop  or  plant  and  to  regulate  or  restrict  the 
carrying  on  of  any  work  or  the  employment  of  any  workmen 
therein,  or  to  remove  the  equipment  therefrom  with  a  view  to 
increasing  the  production  of  munitions,  or  to  regulate  and  control 
the  supply  of  materials  that  may  be  required  for  articles  for  use 
in  war.^ 

In  order  that  the  Minister  of  Munitions  may  have  at  hand  the 
information  necessary  to  enable  him  to  decide  on  the  availability 
of  any  establishment  for  the  production  of  munitions,  the  owner 
of  any  establishment  in  operation  may  be  required  to  furnish  to 
the  Minister  any  information  requested  by  the  latter  as  to  the 
persons  employed  and  the  nature  of  their  work,  the  machinery 
used,  the  costs  of  production  and  other  relevant  matters,  and  to 
submit  his  premises  and  books  to  inspection  by  authorized  in- 
spectors in  order  that  they  may  obtain  such  information  or  other- 

1  Manuals  of  Emergency  Legislation;  Defense  of  the  Realm  Manual, 
pp.  8-9. 

2  Defense  of  the  Realm  Act,  sec.  1  (2)  (a).  Defense  of  the  Realm 
Manual,  p.  3  (note).  Munitions  of  War  Acts,  Part  III,  sec.  10.  Fyfe, 
op.  cit.,  pp.  73-74. 


THE   MUNITIONS   OF   WAR  ACTS  89 

wise  determine  the  availability  of  the  establishment  for  munitions 
work.^ 

Meaning  of  Munitions  Work 

The  term  "  munitions  work  "  has  been  given  a  very  wide  mean- 
ing by  the  revision  of  the  act  and  by  the  interpretations  placed 
upon  it  by  the  appeal  tribunals.  The  amended  act  makes  it  in- 
clude not  only  arms,  ammunition  and  the  like,  but  "  any  other 
articles  or  parts  of  articles  intended  or  adapted  for  use  in  war  "  ^ 
and  the  appeal  tribunals  have  interpreted  this  to  mean  anything 
"  suitable  for  use  in  war."  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that 
anything  which  is  "  capable  of  use  "  in  war  is  to  be  covered  by 
the  term.^  Mr.  Justice  Atkin,  in  explaining  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase  "  intended  or  adapted  for  use  in  war,"  said : 

"  Adapted  for  use "  means,  I  think,  "  suitable  for  use  " ;  but  it  means  in 
the  context  something  more  than  merely  capable  of  use.  I  think  the  word 
denotes  fitness  in  some  high  degree  to  be  determined  on  the  facts  in  each 
particular  case,  taking  into  consideration,  amongst  other  things,  the  extent 
to  which  articles  of  the  particular  class  are  in  fact  employed  in  war,  the 
probability  or  otherwise  of  articles  of  the  class  in  question  being  required  by 
the  military  authorities,  and  the  importance  or  unimportance  of  the  articles 
in  "  furthering  the  efficient  manufacture,  transport  and  supply  of  munitions 
for  the  present  war."  I  think  it  plain,  however,  that  in  considering  this 
part  of  the  definition  the  actual  use,  contemplated  or  intended,  of  the  article 
is  inconclusive  and  may  be  irrelevant;  if  its  use  in  war  is  intended,  the 
article  will  fall  within  the  express  words.  "  Adapted "  must  to  my  mind, 
when  used  disjunctively  from  "intended,"  convey  some  meaning  independ- 
ent of  the  intended  use.* 

It  was  accordingly  held  that  the  repair  of  railway  wagons  be- 
longing to  a  colliery  was  "  munitions  work,"  since  these  wagons, 
though  not  at  the  time  being  used  for  war  purposes,  were  "  ar- 
ticles adapted  for  use  in  war."  ' 

The  act,  as  amended,  provides  that  "  munitions  work  "  shall 

1  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  11,  Amend.  Act,  1916,  sec.  16  and  17. 
Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  pp.  74-75. 

2  Amend.  Act,  1916,  sec.  9  (a).    Fyfe,  p.  82. 

3  In  this  respect  Fyfe,  p.  6,  seems  to  have  erred  in  his  interpretation  of 
Mr.  Justice  Atkin's  decision. 

*  Shaw   V.   Lincoln   Waggon   and   Engine   Co.,   Ltd.      (1916   A.M.T.   11), 
Qiartres,  Judicial  Interpretation  of  the  Munitions  of  War  Acts,  p.  2. 
5  Shaw  V.  Lincoln,  etc.    Chartres,  p.  2.     Fyfe,  pp.  219-220. 


90  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

also  include  the  construction,  alteration  or  repairs  of  building 
machinery  and  plant  for  naval  or  military  purposes,  including  the 
erection  of  houses  to  accommodate  munitions  workers;  the  con- 
struction, repair  and  maintenance  of  docks,  etc.,  where  such  work 
is  certified  by  the  Admiralty  to  be  necessary  for  the  successful 
prosecution  of  the  war,  and  work  necessary  for  the  supply  of 
light,  heat,  water  or  power,  tramway  facilities  or  fire  protection 
where  the  Minister  of  Munitions  certifies  that  such  supply  is  of 
importance  for  carrying  on  munitions  work/  The  act  does  not 
specifically  declare  the  production  of  raw  materials  or  the  mining 
of  coal  or  ore  as  munitions  work.  No  formal  order  of  the  Min- 
ister has,  as  yet,  been  issued  to  include  such  work  and  the  appeal 
tribunals  have  declined  to  pass  upon  it  in  advance,^  but  it  may  be 
noted  that  formal  orders  have  been  issued  specifying  the  manu- 
facture of  such  articles  as  lead  compounds,  constructional  steel, 
lime  and  all  materials  wholly  or  partially  manufactured  from 
wool  as  munitions  work.^  The  Minister  has  also  recommended 
employers  to  refrain  from  encouraging  miners  to  transfer  their 
services  to  munitions  factories,  and  to  assist  men  who  had  been 
engaged  in  coal  mining  to  return  to  the  mines  if  they  desired 
to  do  so.* 

Doubts  having  arisen  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  words  "  work- 
man "  and  "  workmen  "  under  the  original  act,  the  revised  act 
declared  that  these  expressions  shall 

include  not  only  persons  whose  usual  occupation  consists  in  manual  labor, 
but  also  foremen,  clerks,  typists,  draughtsmen  and  other  persons  whose 
usual  occupation  consists  wholly  or  mainly  in  work  other  than  manual 
labor.5 

Controlled  Establishments 

We  have  already  observed  that  many  trade  unionists,  especially 
those  engaged  in  the  engineering  and  shipbuilding  trades,  when 
urged  by  the  government  to  abandon  for  the  period  of  the  war 
their  rules  restricting  production  and  employment,  met  this  pro- 

1  Munitions  of  War  Amend.  Act,  1916,  sec.  9.    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  p.  82. 

2  Chartres,  op.  cit.,  p.  4.  and  note. 

3  Fyfe.  pp.  181-182. 

*  Circular  letter.  71,  October  16,  1915.  cited  by  Fyfe,  p.  8. 
5  Munitions  of  War  Amend.  Act,  1916,  sec.  12.     Fyfe,  p.  83. 


THE    MUNITIONS    OF    WAR   ACTS  91 

posal  with  the  counter  demand  that,  in  case  this  were  done,  em- 
ployers surrender  their  right  to  excess  profits  resulting  from 
government  work.  The  supplemental  agreement  entered  into 
with  representatives  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers, 
following  the  Treasury  Conference  of  March,  1915,  shows  that 
the  government  recognized  the  justice  of  this  claim,  and  contains 
its  promise  to  limit  profits  in  important  establishments  engaged 
in  the  production  of  munitions.  The  principal  method  by  which 
this  promise  was  carried  out  was  through  the  agency  of  what 
are  known  as  "  controlled  establishments  "  dealt  with  primarily 
in  Part  II  of  the  Munitions  Acts. 

Not  all  establishments  engaged ,  on  "  munitions  work  "  are 
"controlled  establishments,"  although  the  Minister  of  Munitions 
may,  by  order,  declare  any  establishment  where  "  munitions 
work  "  is  carried  on  to  be  a  "  controlled  establishment."  *  The 
effects  of  making  an  establishment  a  "  controlled  establishment  " 
are  fourfold : 

(a)  Four-fifths  of  the  net  profits  of  such  an  establishment, 

over  and  above  the  average  profits  for  two  years  pre- 
ceding the  outbreak  of  the  war,  are  to  be  paid  into  the 
Exchequer.^  This  means  that  if  an  employer  had 
made  on  an  average  5  per  cent  profits  on  his  busi- 
ness during  the  two  years  prior  to  the  outbreak  of 
•  the  war  he  is  now  entitled  to  retain  only  one-fifth  of 
any  excess  above  that  amount.  The  remainder  is  to 
be  paid  to  the  Exchequer.  Certain  allowances  are 
made,  however,  which  probably  in  practice  result  in 
bringing  the  amount  retained  somewhat  above  the 
one-fifth  excess  contemplated. 

(b)  No  changes  in  the  rates  of  wages  or  salary  of  any  em- 

ploye in  such  establishment  shall  be  made  until  the 
proposed  change  has  been  submitted  to  the  Minister 
of  Munitions,  who  may  withhold  his  consent.  Either 
the  Minister  or  the  owner  of  the  establishment  may 

1  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  4.     Amend.  Act,  1916,  sec.   1.     Fyfe, 
op.  cit.^  pp.  62-63. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  4(1);  sec.  5  (1),  (2).    Fyfe,  pp.  63,  66. 


92  BRITISH   LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

then  require  that  the  matter  be  submitted  to  arbitra- 
tion in  the  manner  provided  by  the  act/ 
By  an  amendment  made  to  the  act  in  1917  the  undertaking 
which  the  owner  of  a  controlled  establishment  was  deemed  to 
have  entered  into  was  made  to  include  an  undertaking  not  to 
change  piece  prices,  time  allowances  or  bonuses  on  output  or  the 
rates  or  prices  payable  under  any  other  system  of  payment  by  re- 
sults unless  this  change  was  made  by  agreement  between  the 
owner  and  his  workmen  or  under  certain  conditions  by  direction 
of  the  Minister.  This  provision  was  not  to  apply,  however,  to 
changes  in  the  rates  of  wages  made  by  order  of  the  Minister  in 
the  case  of  female  workers  employed  on  munition  work  or  in  the 
case  of  wages  paid  in  shipbuilding  yards  where  special  rules  were 
made  applicable.^ 

(c)  "  Any  rule,  practice,  or  custom  not  having  the  force  of 
law  which  tends  to  restrict  production  or  employ- 
ment shall  be  suspended  in  the  establishment,"  but 
the  owner  is  deemed  to  have  entered  into  an  under- 
taking to  restore  such  rules,  etc.,  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  and  to  give  preference  in  employment  to  former 
employes.  In  order  that  this  undertaking  may  be 
carried  out,  this  part  of  the  act  continues,  as  already 
mentioned,  for  twelve  months  after  the  close  of  the 
war.  The  Board  of  Trade  is  made  the  judge  as  to 
whether  any  rule,  etc.,  tends  to  restrict  production 
or  employment.^  The  rules,  practices  and  customs 
to  which  reference  is  here  made  are  those  dealt  with 
in  the  Treasury  agreement  and  relate  to  such  matters 
as  the  restrictions  imposed  by  the  unions  on  the  in- 
troduction of  machines,  the  rules  forbidding  women 
or  semi-skilled  men  from  doing  skilled  work  and  the 
limitations  on  hours  demanded  by  the  unions,  the  use 
of  nonunion  labor,  etc.     Not  all  the  rules  which  the 

1  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915.  sec.  4  (2)  ;  1916,  sec.  2.    Fyfe,  p.  63. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1917,  sec.  8.    British  Industrial  Experience,  vol. 

1,  p.  263. 

3  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  4  (3),  (4)  ;  sec.  20.    See  also  schedule 

2,  Fyfe,  pp.  64,  83,  84-85. 


THE   MUNITIONS   OF   WAR   ACTS  93 

act  abrogated,  however,  were  those  laid  down  by 
trade  unions.     In  one  case  dealt  with  by  the  High 
Court  of  Justice  an  employer  who  had  maintained  a 
nonunion  shop  was  unwilling  to  employ  members  of 
a  certain  trade  union,  but  the  court  held  that  a  prac- 
tice "  which  does  tend  to  prevent  workmen   from 
entering  employment  who  otherwise  could  reasonably 
be  employed  "  was  one  of  the  practices  which  tended 
to  hinder  production  and  was  therefore  aimed  at  by 
the  Munitions  Act. 
(d)  Employers  and  employes  in  any  such  establishment  be- 
come subject  to  any  regulations  made  by  the  Min- 
ister of  Munitions   for  that  establishment,   for  the 
purpose    of    maintaining    efficiency    and    discipline. 
They  are  also  bound  by  his  orders  giving  directions 
as  to  rates  of  wages,  hours  of  labor  or  conditions  of 
employment,  so  far  as  those  relate  to  semi-skilled  or 
unskilled  workers  doing  work  which  before  the  war 
had  usually  been  done  by  skilled  labor.* 
Thus  it  appears  that  the  government  has  succeeded,  as  far  as 
the  language  of  the  law  is  concerned,  in  tying  together  the  limita- 
tion of  profits  in  munitions  establishments  and  the  removal  of 
the  restrictive  rules  of  the  trade  unions,  while  it  seeks  to  bind 
the  employer  to  a  restoration  of  the  prewar  customs  at  the  close 
of  the  war.     Although  the  term  "  controlled  establishments  "  is 
not  specifically  limited  to  the  engineering  and  shipbuilding  trades, 
it  seems  to  have  been  in  the  minds  of  the  framers  of  these  sections 
of  the  original  act  to  limit  the  operation  of  them  to  these  trades 
and  thus  meet  the  issues  raised  at  the  Treasury  Conference  by  the 
Amalgamated    Society   of    Engineers.      Later   when    the    1916 
amendments  to  the  act  were  being  considered,  it  was  apparently 
deemed  best  to  give  a  broader  meaning  to  the  term  "controlled 
establishments." 

In  February,  1917,  the  number  of  "  controlled  establishments  " 
in  the  United  Kingdom  was  4,285  with  approximately  two  mil- 
lion workers  employed  therein,  twenty  per  cent  of  whom  were 
1  "Munitions  of  War  Amend.  Acts,  1916,  sec.  7.    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  p.  65. 


94  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

women  and  girls.  Since  that  date  the  proportion  of  female  labor 
has  increased  considerably,  but  no  figures  are  available  which 
show  the  extent  of  the  increase. 

Although  the  undertaking  given  by  employers  to  restore  pre- 
war conditions  in  their  establishments  at  the  close  of  the  war,  as 
contained  in  schedule  two,  would  seem  to  have  been  sufficiently 
broad  to  cover  the  exclusion  of  nonunionists  where  such  ex- 
clusion had  been  the  rule,  unionists  were  apparently  not  satisfied 
with  the  statement  and,  in  the  amended  act,  succeeded  in  having 
this  point  specifically  mentioned.^ 

Munitions  Volunteers 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  agitation  for  industrial 
conscription  which  was  taking  place  in  England  during  the  spring 
of  1915.  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  earlier  speeches  indicated  that  he 
favored  the  idea,  but  he  later  expressed  himself  as  not  being  in 
sympathy  with  this  demand.  He  is  quoted  as  having  said  at  a 
conference  with  representatives  of  the  unions  on  June  10 : 

They  talk  about  the  conscription  of  labor.  I  don't  want  conscription  of 
labor  at  all.  All  I  want  to  do  is  to  be  able  to  place  men  where  they  are 
most  needed  to  increase  the  output  of  munitions.^ 

While  the  Munitions  Act  does  not  provide  for  "  conscription 
of  labor,"  it  does  impose  such  restrictions  on  the  employment  and 
mobility  of  laborers  who  volunteer  to  work  in  controlled  estab- 
lishments as  to  give  this  employment  more  or  less  the  character 
of  military  service.  Munitions  volunteers,  as  they  are  called, 
enter  into  an  agreement  with  the  Minister  to  work  at  any  con- 
trolled establishment  to  which  they  are  assigned  and  to  remain 
there  for  the  period  of  the  war,  or  for  at  least  six  months.  If 
they  fail  to  comply  with  the  undertaking  they  become  liable  to 
penalties.^  Subject  to  penalties  for  disobedience  employers  are 
forbidden  to  dissuade  their  employes  from  volunteering  to  do 
munitions  work  or  to  retain  in  their  employment  munitions  volun- 
teers who  have  received  notice  from  the  Minister  of  Munitions 

1  Munitions  of  War  Amend.  Act,  1916,  sec.  15.    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  pp.  64-65. 

2  Quoted  by  Cole :  Labour  in   War  Time,  p.  213. 

8  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  6  (1).    Fyfe,  p.  67. 


THE    MUNITIONS    OF    WAR   ACTS  95 

that  they  are  to  work  in  some  other  establishment.^  They  are 
also  forbidden  to  discharge  from  their  employment  munitions 
volunteers  within  a  period  of  six  weeks  of  the  date  of  their  agree- 
ment with  the  Minister  unless  "  there  was  reasonable  cause  "  for 
such  dismissal.^ 

The  usual  mode  of  employing  munitions  volunteers  is  for  the 
owner  of  a  controlled  establishment  to  make  application  to  the 
manager  of  the  central  labor  exchange  for  war  munitions  volun- 
teers, stating  the  number  desired,  the  occupations  and  special 
qualifications,  the  wages  and  hours  of  work  and  other  conditions, 
and  sign  an  agreement  to  employ  the  workers  who  may  be 
assigned  to  him  only  on  war  munitions  work  and  to  pay  them  the 
district  rate  of  wages  for  their  work  and  to  meet  the  other  condi- 
tions applicable  to  munitions  volunteers.  His  application  must 
also  contain  the  declaration  that  the  employer  has  not  already  in 
his  employ  on  private  work  men  who  are  capable  or  who  can  be 
made  capable  for  the  work  in  question  and  that  the  local  labor  ex- 
change has  not  succeeded  in  obtaining  such  men  for  him.^ 

The  munitions  volunteers  are  entitled  to  (a)  the  district  rate  of 
wages;  (b)  the  sum  necessary,  to  make  up  the  difference  (if  any) 
between  the  district  rate  and  that  received  by  the  workman  be- 
fore his  enrolment  as  a  munitions  volunteer;  (c)  traveling  ex- 
penses, including  railway  fare  at  the  commencement  and  com- 
pletion of  the  work,  and  where  necessary  subsistence  allowance 
at  the  rate  of  2s.  6d.  per  day  for  seven  days  in  the  week. 

It  is  clearly  understood  that  the  subsistence  allowance  is  not 
intended  to  enable  any  workman  to  make  a  pecuniary  profit. 

When  the  workman's  residence  is  within  daily  traveling  dis- 
tance of  his  place  of  work,  he  receives  the  cost  of  workman's 
tickets  and,  if  the  distance  traveled  exceeds  one-half  hour  each 
way,  he  is  paid  one  hour's  traveling  time  per  day  at  the  rate  of 
time  and  a  half.* 

The  munitions  volunteers  plan  was  adopted  by  the  government 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  National  Advisory  Committee,  made  up 

1  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  6  (2).    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  p.  68. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1916,  sec.  3.    Fyfe,  p.  68. 

3  Form  W.M.V.  19. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  4. 


96  BRITISH   LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

of  trade  union  leaders,  as  an  alternative  for  conscription  of  labor. 
The  plan  was  introduced  even  before  the  enactment  of  the  Muni- 
tions Act,  1915,  and  90,000  men  had  registered  as  munitions 
volunteers  by  July  10  of  that  year.  There  are  no  figures  available 
which  show  registrations  after  that  date.  In  November,  1916, 
the  plan  was  extended  by  the  trade  card  exemption  system,  under 
which  whole  unions  enrolled  as  munitions  volunteers. 

The  successful  operation  of  the  plan  was  hindered,  however, 
by  employers  through  patriotic  motives  and  by  other  obstacles 
so  that  less  use  was  made  of  the  plan  than  had  been  expected. 
The  plan  has  been  revived  and  extended,  however,  since  the 
abolition  of  leaving  certificates  in  the  fall  of  1917. 

The  Dilution  of  Labor 

Much  has  been  said  in  the  discussion  of  war  labor  legislation 
concerning  the  "  dilution  of  labor."  This  apt  expression  has 
reference  to  the  introduction  of  semi-skilled  or  female  labor  to 
do  work  which  before  the  war  was  usually  performed  by  skilled 
labor.  Such  substitution  in  the  munitions  trades  had  already  been 
proceeding  at  a  fairly  rapid  rate  before  the  government  directly 
interested  itself  in  the  question.  The  Board  of  Trade  estimated 
that  in  February,  1915,  the  increase  in  the  number  of  females 
in  the  engineering  trades  was  26.4  per  cent  over  the  21,000  which 
the  census  of  1911  reported  as  employed  in  those  trades.  The 
number  of  men  in  these  trades,  on  the  other  hand,  showed  a  con- 
traction of  9.1  per  cent  as  compared  to  1911.^ 

The  unionists  in  the  engineering  trades  offered  strenuous  op- 
position to  the  introduction  of  women  and  of  unskilled  labor  into 
these  well  organized  trades,  especially  where  efforts  were  made 
to  use  this  labor  to  accomplish  what  was  regarded  as  skilled  work. 
We  have  already  noted  that  the  government  yielded  to  this  op- 
position to  the  extent  of  making  a  separate  agreement  with  the 
Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers  in  March,  1915,  to  the  effect 

that  in  the  case  of  the  introduction  of  new  inventions  which  were  not  in 
existence  in  the  prewar  period  the  class  of  workmen  to  be  employed  on 

1  Edith  Abbott :  "  The  War  and  Women's  Work  in  England,"  Journal  of 
Political  Economy,  July,  1917,  vol.  25,  p.  662  , 


THE    MUNITIONS    OF    WAR   ACTS  97 

this  work  after  the  war  should  be  determined  according  to  the  practice  pre- 
vailing before  the  war  in  the  case  of  the  class  of  work  most  nearly  analogous. 

Other  clauses  in  the  general  agreement  provided  (1)  that  at 
the  close  of  the  war  priority  of  employment  should  be  given  to 
workmen  employed  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  and  to  those 
serving  with  the  colors;  and  (2)  that  the  standard  rates  should 
be  paid  to  semi-skilled  and  female  laborers  called  upon  to  perform 
work  which  had  been  skilled  labor.  These  safeguards  were  suf- 
ficient, it  was  believed,  to  cause  the  displacement  in  the  skilled 
trades  of  female  and  unskilled  laborers  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  Munitions  Act  of  1915  undertook  to  make  definite  these 
promises  by  Schedule  2  and  by  its  scheme  of  controlled  estab- 
lishments. At  the  same  time  it  gave  the  utmost  encouragement  to 
employers  to  make  use  of  semi-skilled  male  labor  and  of  female 
labor  wherever  it  was  possible  to  increase  the  output  of  muni- 
tions thereby.  With  the  exception  of  the  obligations  imposed  on 
owners  of  controlled  establishments  by  Schedule  2,  no  special 
precautions  in  regard  to  the  dilution  of  labor  are  found  in  the 
Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915. 

From  the  first,  however,  the  dilution  scheme  caused  uneasiness 
in  the  minds  of  unionists  and  in  order  to  secure  their  cooperation, 
the  government  in  September,  1915,  appointed  a  joint  committee 
representing  the  National  Labor  Advisory  Committee  (three  of 
whose  members  were  included)  and  the  Ministry  of  Munitions, 
with  additional  members  including  Mr.  W.  H.  Beveridge,  Di- 
rector of  the  Labor  Exchanges,  and  Miss  Mary  Macarthur,  Sec- 
retary of  the  National  Federation  of  Wornen  Workers, 

to  advise  and  assist  the  Ministry  in  regard  to  the  transference  of  skilled 
labor  and  the  introduction  of  semi-skilled  and  unskilled  labor  for  munitions 
work,  so  as  to  secure  the  most  productive  use  of  all  available  labor  supplies 
in  the  manufacture  of  munitions  of  war.^ 

In  October,  1915,  this  committee,  known  as  the  Munitions 
Labor  Supply  Committee,  drew  up  a  series  of  recommendations 
in  regard  to  the  dilution  of  labor,  and  these  "  recommendations  " 
were  issued  to  employers  in  October  as  Circular  L2  and  Cir- 
cular L3. 
^Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  p.  70. 


98  british  labor  conditions  and  legislation 

Employment  and  Remuneration  of  Women  and  Unskilled 

Labor 

Circular  L2  dealt  with  the  "  employment  and  remuneration  of 
women  on  munitions  work  of  a  class  which  prior  to  the  war  was 
not  recognized  as  women's  work  in  districts  where  such  work 
was  customarily  carried  On."  It  dealt  with  rates  of  wages  and 
allowances  for  overtime  and  holiday  work,  conditions  under 
which  women  might  be  employed  on  piece  work  or  the  premium 
bonus  system  and  contained  a  recognition  of  the  principle  "  that 
on  systems  of  payment  by  results  equal  payment  shall  be  made 
to  women  as  to  the  men  for  an  equal  amount  of  work  done." 
After  the  amendment  of  the  act  in  1916,  the  government  made 
the  adoption  of  the  provisions  of  Circular  L2  mandatory. 

Circular  L3  related  to  the  "  employment  and  remuneration  of 
semi-skilled  and  unskilled  men  on  munition  work  of  a  class  which 
prior  to  the  war  was  customarily  undertaken  by  skilled  labor." 
Originally  issued  as  mere  "  recommendations  "  of  the  Minister 
of  Munitions,  the  provisions  of  this  circular  were,  after  the 
Munitions  of  War  Amendment  Act,  1916,  had  been  passed, 
issued  as  government  orders.  The  "  general  "  clauses  were  as 
follows : 

1.  Operations  on  which  skilled  men  are  at  present  employed  but  which 
by  reason  of  their  character  can  be  performed  by  semi-skilled  or  unskilled 
labor,  may  be  done  by  such  labor  during  the  period  of  the  war. 

2.  Where  semi-skilled  or  unskilled  male  labor  is  employed  on  work  iden- 
tical with  that  customarily,  undertaken  by  skilled  labor,  the  time  rates  and 
piece  prices  and  premium  bonus  times  shall  be  the  same  as  customarily 
obtained  for  the  operations  when  performed  by  skilled  labor. 

3.  Where  skilled  men  are  at  present  employed  they  shall  not  be  displaced 
by  less  skilled  labor  unless  other  skilled  employment  is  offered  to  them  there 
or  elsewhere. 

4.  Piece  work  prices  and  premium  bonus  time  allowances,  after  they  have 
been  established,  shall  not  be  altered  unless  the  means  or  method  of  manu- 
facture are  changed. 

5.  Overtime,  night  shift,  Sunday  and  holiday  allowances  shall  be  paid  to 
such  machine  men  on  the  same  basis  as  to  skilled  men. 

The  circular  also  recommended  time  ratings  for  the  manu- 


THE   MUNITIONS   OF   WAR   ACTS  99 

facture  of  complete  shell  and  fuses  and  cartridge  cases,  and  these 
were  likewise  later  converted  into  orders.^ 

When  Parliament  came  to  amend  the  Munitions  Act  in  Janu- 
ary, 1916,  it  gave  the  Minister  of  Munitions  power 

to  give  directions  as  to  the  rate  of  wages,  hours  of  labor  or  conditions  of 
employment  of  semi-skilled  and  unskilled  men  employed  in  any  controlled 
establishment  or  munitions  work,  being  work  of  a  class  which,  prior  to  the 
war,  was  customarily  undertaken  by  skilled  labor,  or  as  to  the  time  rates  for 
the  manufacture  of  complete  shells  and  fuses  and  cartridge  cases  in  any 
controlled  establishment  in  which  such  manufacture  was  not  customary  prior 
to  the  war.2 

In  the  case  of  female  workers  "  employed  on  or  in  connection 
with  munitions  work  in  any  establishment "  which  had  been 
brought  under  orders  of  the  Minister  of  Munitions,  the  Min- 
ister was  (subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  Factory  and  Work- 
shops Acts,  1901  to  1911)  empowered  "to  give  directions  as 
to  the  rate  of  wages  or  as  to  hours  of  labor  or  conditions  of 
employment."  ' 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  Minister's  control  extended  much 
farther  in  the  case  of  female  workers  than  in  the  case  of  male 
workers,  where  it  was  limited  to  controlled  establishments  and 
to  semi-skilled  and  unskilled  laborers  performing  for  the  time 
being  skilled  work.  The  reasons  for  this  greater  control  in  the 
case  of  female  labor  are  not  entirely  clear,  but  are  probably  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  men  were  better  organized  in  the  skilled 
trades  and  felt  able  to  control  the  situation  in  that  class  of  work, 
and  also  to  the  fact  that  government  control  of  the  hours,  condi- 
tions of  employment  and  even  the  wages  of  women  workers  was 
something  which  had  long  since  won  recognition  in  Great  Britain. 
It  is  probably  also  true  that  organized  labor  has  less  objection  to 
the  introduction  of  female  labor  into  the  skilled  trades  during 
the  period  of  the  war  than  it  has  to  the  introduction  of  semi- 
skilled male  labor  to  do  skilled  work,  believing  that  female 
labor  will  be  much  easier  to  displace  "  since  the  line  of  sex  demar- 

1  See  Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  Appendix  6,  pp.  166-167. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sec.  7.    Fyfe,  p.  65. 

3  Munitions  of  War  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sec.  6.    Fyfe,  p.  72. 


100  BRITiSH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

cation  is  clearer  than  any  line  based  upon  classes  of  men."  ^ 
The  government  has  undertaken  to  deal  with  the  question  of 
women's  wages  and  work  not  only  by  making  Circular  L2  man- 
datory but  by  the  appointment  of  a  special  tribunal  with  Lyndon 
Macassey  as  chairman  and  with  two  women  among  its  six  mem- 
bers, whose  functions  are  to  act  as  an  arbitration  tribunal  to  which 
the  Minister  may  refer  differences  relating  to  the  hours,  wages 
and  working  conditions  of  women,  and  to  advise  the  Minister  in 
his  dealings  with  these  matters.  The  general  tendency  of  the 
regulations  has  been  to  increase  women's  wages,  but  many  diffi- 
culties have  arisen  in  the  effort  to  see  that  women  were  paid  at 
the  same  rates  for  the  same  work  as  was  performed  by  men  when 
automatic  machinery  has  been  introduced. 

The  Amending  Act  of  1917  broadens  greatly  the  power  of  the 
Minister  of  Munitions  as  to  the  regulation  of  wages.  If  he  con- 
siders it  necessary  in  order  to  maintain  the  output  of  munitions 
to  give  directions  as  to  the  remuneration  of  laborers  employed  in 
controlled  establishments  on  time  rates,  he  may,  subject  to  any 
agreement  which  has  been  entered  into  between  employers  and 
the  workmen  with  his  consent,  give  such  directions  as  he  may 
consider  necessary.  A  violation  of  these  orders  is  punishable  in 
like  manner  as  violations  of  an  award  made  in  case  of  a  settlement 
of  differences  between  the  parties.^ 

Another  section  of  the  1917  Amending  Act  provides  that 
where  an  award  as  to  wages,  hours  or  conditions  of  employment 
has  been  made  under  Part  I  of  the  act  of  1915,  or  in  pursuance 
of  an  agreement  between  work  people  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  munitions,  and  the  Minister  of  Munitions  is  satisfied  that  the 
award  is  binding  upon  employers  employing  the  majority  of  the 
employes  in  any  branch  of  trade,  he  may  direct  that  the  award 
shall  be  binding  on  all  or  any  employers  and  persons  in  the  trade, 
either  without  modifications  or  with  such  modifications  as  shall 
insure  that  no  employer  shall  be  enabled  to  pay  less  wages  than 
are  required  to  be  paid  by  parties  subject  to  the  original  award. ^ 

*  Kirkaldy :  Labour,  Finance  and  the  War,  p.  136. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1917,  sec.  1.     British  Industrial  Experience,  vol. 
1,  p.  260. 

3  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1917,  sec.  5.    British  Industrial  Experience,  vol. 
1,  p.  262. 


the  munitions  of  war  acts  101 

Restrictions  on  the  Mobility  of  Labor 

For  several  months  prior  to  the  enactment  of  the  Munitions 
Act  of  1915,  the  government  had  endeavored  by  means  of  an 
Order  in  Council  dated  April  29,  1915,  to  prevent  the  indiscrim- 
inate migration  of  labor  needed  in  munition  plants.  The  method 
of  prevention  was  to  forbid  employers  in  factories  engaged  on 
munitions  work  to  advertise  for  or  otherwise  seek  to  induce 
persons  employed  in  other  factories  on  government  work  to  leave 
their  employment  in  order  to  accept  work  in  the  establishment  of 
this  particular  employer.  Penalties  were  provided  for  enticing 
labor,  and  employers  in  munitions  establishments  desiring  to 
secure  additional  laborers  were  forbidden  to  take  any  steps  other- 
wise than  to  notify  vacancies  to  one  of  the  labor  exchanges  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Trade. 

This  mode  of  restriction  failed  to  accomplish  its  purpose  since 
it  did  not  apply  to  employers  on  other  than  munitions  work;  it 
did  not  prevent  laborers  in  munitions  plants  from  voluntarily 
leaving  their  places  of  employment  to  secure  work  elsewhere,  and 
it  did  not  furnish  any  method  by  which  the  offense  of  enticing 
laborers  could  be  proved  before  the  courts.  Accordingly,  under 
the  Munitions  of  War  Act  of  1915,  an  effort  was  made  to  deal 
in  a  more  direct  way  with  restrictions  on  the  mobility  of  labor. 
By  section  7  of  this  act  employers  were  forbidden  to  give  employ- 
ment to  a  workman  who  had  been  employed  on,  or  in  connection 
with  munitions  work  within  a  period  of  six  weeks  preceding"  his 
application  for  work  unless  the  laborer  held  a  "  leaving  certifi- 
cate "  from  the  employer  by  whom  he  was  last  so  employed  or 
from  a  munitions  tribunal  to  which  an  appeal  might  be  taken  in 
cases  where  his  employer  had  refused  to  grant  such  a  certificate. 
Munitions  tribunals,  set  up  under  another  provision  of  the  act, 
were  authorized  to  grant  such  "  leaving  certificates  "  whenever 
they  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  refusal  of  the  employer  to 
grant  such  a  certificate  had  been  unreasonable. 

More  dissatisfaction  arose  from  the  operation  of  this  section 
of  the  Munitions  Act,  1915,  than  from  any  other  section  of  the 


Ubrary 

VNIVEilglTY  OF  CAUFOBNU 
SANTA  AARBARA 


102  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

act.  Laborers  complained  that  the  restrictions  on  their  right  to 
seek  work  in  other  munitions  plants  than  those  in  which  they 
were  for  the  time  being  employed  were  being  taken  advantage 
of  by  employers  to  hinder  their  employment  under  conditions 
best  not  only  for  themselves  but  for  the  country.  New  munitions 
plants  were  being  established  all  over  the  country  and  the  services 
of  skilled  workers  were  in  great  demand  as  foremen  and  man- 
agers and  for  giving  instructions  to  unskilled  laborers.  Employ- 
ers by  their  refusal  to  release  workers  to  take  such  places  were 
preventing  the  skilled  laborers  of  the  country  from  being 
employed  in  the  most  advantageous  ways.  Another  ground  of 
complaint  was  that  employers  were  using  their  power  to  refuse 
"  leaving  certificates  "  as  a  means  of  discipline.  Since  laborers 
could  not  be  lawfully  employed  for  a  period  of  six  weeks  after 
they  left  their  employment  unless  they  possessed  "  leaving  certifi- 
cates "  they  were  forced  either  to  remain  in  their  present  situa- 
tions or  to  accept  the  penalty  of  idleness.  It  was  also  said  that 
employers  in  granting  "  leaving  certificates  "  endorsed  them  with 
comments  on  the  conduct  of  their  holders  and  thus  made  it  more 
difficult  to  secure  employment. 

With  a  view  to  remedying  these  difficulties,  as  well  as  to  over- 
come certain  difficulties  in  interpretation  of  such  words  and 
phrases  as  '*  workmen,"  "  munitions  work,"  etc.,  the  Amendment 
Act  of  January,  1916,  substituted  for  Section  7  of  the  original 
act  a  new  section  (No.  5),  which  made  more  specific  the  obliga- 
tions of  munitions  tribunals  to  grant  "  leaving  certificates  "  where 
they  were  unreasonably  withheld  by  employers.  They  might  also 
require  the  employer  who  had  refused  such  a  certificate  to  pay 
to  the  laborer  a  sum  not  exceeding  £5,  unless  the  laborer  was 
guilty  of  misconduct,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  his  dismissal  or 
discharge.  This  penalty  was  also  made  applicable  to  the 
employer  of  a  workman 

who  applies  for  a  certificate  on  the  ground  that  he  has  for  a  period  of  more 
than  two  days  been  given  no  opportunity  of  earning  wages,  or  who  leaves 
his  employment  on  account  of  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  employer,  or  any 
agent  of  the  employer,  which  would  justify  the  immediate  termination  by  the 
workman  of  his  contract  of  service  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  been  dis- 
missed or  discharged  by  his  employer. 


THE    MUNITIONS    OF    WAR   ACTS  103 

The  workman  was  also  under  the  provision  of  this  section  entitled 
to  a  week's  notice  of  intention  to  dismiss  him,  or  (in  lieu  of  such 
a  notice)  to  a  week's  wages,  unless  the  employer  reported  such 
dismissal  within  twenty-four  hours,  under  rules  made  by  the 
Minister  of  Munitions,  claiming  that  the  work  was  of  a  tem- 
porary or  discontinuous  character  or  that  the  workman  had  been 
guilty  of  misconduct,  and  a  munitions  tribunal  might  be  called 
upon  to  determine  the  legitimacy  of  this  excuse  and  might  require 
the  employer  to  pay  a  sum,  not  exceeding  £5,  to  the  workman 
where  the  tribunal  found  that  there  was  no  reason  or  cause  for 
dismissing  him  without  a  week's  notice. 

In  spite  of  the  improvements  in  the  mode  of  administration 
of  the  section  relating  to  "  leaving  certificates  "  made  by  the 
amendment  of  1916,  this  section  of  the  act  continued  to  give  great 
dissatisfaction  to  laborers  employed  in  munitions  plants.  One 
of  the  reasons  for  this  dissatisfaction  is  said  to  be  the  fact  that 
although  the  act  did  not  apply  to  workers  engaged  in  civil  estab- 
lishments, employers  in  such  establishments  hesitated  to  employ 
workers  who  did  not  have  "  leaving  certificates,"  in  view  of  the 
penalties  imposed  upon  employers  hiring  workers  from  munitions 
plants.  "  In  other  words,"  says  Mr.  Fyfe,  "  a  *  leaving  certifi- 
cate '  has  come  to  be  recognized  in  the  industrial  world  as  a  pass- 
port to  employment." 

An  effort  was  made  to  meet  this  difficulty  by  a  rule  promulgated 
by  the  Minister  of  Munitions  to  the  effect  that  a  worker  might 
ask  from  a  local  munitions  tribunal  an  exemption  certificate 
which  would  state  that  in  the  opinion  of  that  tribunal  the  work- 
man had  not  been  employed  on  munitions  work  within  the  past  six 
weeks. 

The  munitions  tribunals  were  authorized  by  the  act  to  grant 
a  "  leaving  certificate  "  to  a  workman  who  desired  to  leave  his 
work  in  order  to  undertake  work  in  which  his  skill  or  other 
personal  qualifications  could  be  employed  to  a  greater  advantage 
to  the  national  interests,  or  where  he  had  completed  a  term  of 
apprenticeship  and  desired  to  obtain  the  full  standard  rate  of 
wages,  but  these  matters  were  left  entirely  to  the  judgment  of 
the  munitions  tribunals  and  in  all  such  cases  the  workman  was 


104  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

supposed  to  remain  in  his  employment  until  the  question  had 
been  passed  upon. 

It  is  possible,  for  example  (said  one  of  the  appeal  tribunals),  that  a  man 
employed  as  a  laborer  might  be  indispensable  in  one  establishment  while 
his  services,  even  in  skilled  work,  might  be  of  minor  importance,  from  a 
national  point  of  view,  in  another  establishment.  The  question  is,  where 
can  he  render  best  service?  ^ 

Although  the  possibility  of  appealing  their  cases  to  the  muni- 
tions tribunals  enabled  the  workmen  to  secure  their  "  leaving 
certificates  "  on  reasonable  grounds,  the  delays  in  such  appeals 
and  other  causes  for  complaint  led  Parliament  in  the  amendment 
of  the  Munitions  Act,  dated  August  21,  1917,  to  give  to  the 
Minister  of  Munitions  power  to  repeal  the  provision  of  the  act 
relating  to  "  leaving  certificates  "  upon  his  being  satisfied  that 
this  could  be  done  consistently  with  the  national  interests. 
In  the  event  such  section  was  repealed  certain  "  alternative 
provisions  are  to  have  efifect,  prohibiting  the  employment  of  the 
workmen  concerned  on  work  other  than  certain  munitions  work, 
except  with  the  consent  of  the  minister  and,  subject  to  certain 
exceptions,  a  contract  of  service  between  an  employer,  and  a 
workman  employed  on  or  in  connection  with  munitions  work  is 
not  to  be  determinable  by  either  party  except  by  a  week's  notice 
or  on  payment  of  a  sum  equal  to  an  average  week's  wages  under 
the  contract."  ^ 

Acting  in  accordance  with  this  amendment,  the  government 
issued  an  order  abolishing  leaving  certificates  on  and  after  Octo- 
ber 15,  1917.  Workmen  may  now  leave  their  places  of  employ- 
ment to  engage  on  war  work  elsewhere  on  giving  a  week's  notice 
or  such  other  notice  as  is  required  by  their  contract. 

A  return  to  the  war  munitions  volunteers  scheme  accompanies 
this  abolition  and  the  scheme  has  been  extended  to  all  men. 
eligible  to  enroll,  not  as  hitherto  limited  to  those  in  certain  trades 
and  engaged  on  certain  classes  of  work.    The  National  Advisory 

1  Scottish  Tube  Company,  Ltd.  v.  McGillivray,  1916,  Scot.  App.  Rep., 
p.  19.    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  p.  19. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1917,  sees.  2,  3  and  4.  British  Industrial  Ex- 
perience, vol.  1,  pp.  261-262. 


THE    MUNITIONS    OF    WAR   ACTS  105 

Committee  has  voiced  its  approval  of  this  plan  by  urging  work- 
men not  to  change  their  employment  "  without  definite  and  sub- 
stantial grounds  and  to  show  that  the  output  of  munitions  will 
not  suffer  from  the  abolition  of  the  leaving  certificates."  * 

Army  Reserve  Munitions  Workers 

In  addition  to  the  munitions  volunteers  from  civil  life,  the 
rules  adopted  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  provide  for  the 
regulation  of  the  employment  of  men  from  the  army  who  have 
been  temporarily  released  from  the  service  in  order  that  they 
may  be  employed  in  the  production  of  munitions  of  war.  We 
have  already  observed  that  it  was  not  appreciated  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  that  the  success  of  military  operations  would  be  so 
dependent  upon  the  increase  of  munitions  that  it  would  be 
unwise  to  allow  men  skilled  in  the  production  of  munitions  to 
enlist.  Accordingly  men  from  the  engineering,  mining  and  other 
essential  war  industries  were  allowed  to  enlist  as  freely  as  men 
from  other  trades  until,  after  some  months,  the  country  came  to 
a  realization  of  the  need  of  preventing  further  enlistments  from 
these  industries  and  steps  began  to  be  taken  to  secure  release  from 
the  colors  of  men  whose  skill  was  required  for  munitions  work. 
These  released  soldiers  are  known  as  army  reserve  munitions 
workers  and,  in  general,  the  terms  of  their  employment,  as 
regards  wages,  traveling  allowances,  subsistence  allowances,  etc., 
are  the  same  as  for  munitions  ^  volunteers,  but  in  addition  to 
these  regular  allowances,  there  are  supplemental  allowances 
varying  from  2s.  6d.  to  5s.  per  week  for  soldiers  having  four  or 
more  children  under  fourteen  (male)  or  sixteen  (female)  years 
of  age.  All  these  additions  to  the  regular  current  wages  of  the 
district  or  for  the  job  are  paid  by  employers,  but  are  recoverable 
by  them  from  the  Ministry  of  Munitions. 

The  soldier  who  has  been  released  from  military  service  to 
enter  a  munitions  establishment  enters  into  an  agreement  with 
the  Minister  of  Munitions  to  remain  in  such  employment  during 

''■Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  356. 

2  Terms  of  Agreement,  A.R.M.V.  1  and  2.    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  pp.  193-195. 


106  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  war  or  "  for  so  long  as  is  required  by  the  Minister,"  and  the 
agreement  includes  the  following  clause : 

I  understand  that  I  am  liable  to  return  to  military  service  at  any  time 
that  I  cease  to  be  employed  by  any  firm  named  by  the  Minister  of  Munitions, 
or  if  I  am  ordered  to  report  myself  for  service  with  the  colors  by  the  com- 
petent military  authority.^ 

Since  November,  1916,  the  army  reserve  munition  workers 
have  included  not  only  men  released  from  the  colors  but  men 
who  have  enlisted  and  who  are  unfit  for  military  service.  These 
men  on  being  sent  to  the  factories  frequently  make  it  possible  to 
release  for  military  service  men  employed  therein.  By  February 
23,  1917,  over  12,000  men  had  started  work  under  this  plan 
and  more  than  half  of  them  were  substitutes  for  men  who  had 
entered  the  service. 

Munitions  Tribunals 

The  munitions  tribunals  to  which  reference  has  several  times 
been  made  are  of  two  classes,  which  the  act  designates  as  first 
class  and  second  class,  but  which  are  usually  called  "  general " 
and  "  local  "  tribunals.^ 

The  United  Kingdom  has  been  divided  into  10  divisions — 7 
in  England,  1  in  Scotland  and  2  in  Ireland — in  each  of  which  a 
general  tribunal  has  been  set  up.  Each  division  has  in  turn  been 
divided  into  districts,  each  of  which  has  its  local  tribunal. 

The  general  munitions  tribunals  deal  with  the  more  important 
offenses  under  the  acts.  These  are,  generally  speaking,  of  two 
classes : 

(a)  Offenses  arising  in  connection  with  trade  disputes — i.e.,  offenses  under 
Part  I  of  the  act  of  1915,  and  (b)  all  other  offenses  under  the  acts  outside 
the  scope  of  local  munitions  tribunals. 

The  offenses  arising  in  connection  with  trade  disputes  are  of 
three  kinds: 

1  Terms  of  Agreement,  A.R.M.V.  1  and  2.    Fyfe,  op  cit.,  pp.  193-195. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  15.  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sec.  18. 
Fyfe,  pp.  50-51,  77-78,  Appendix  4,  pp.  110-144. 


THE    MUNITIONS   OF   WAR  ACTS  107 

(1)  Failure  to  comply  witji  an  award,  (2)  the  locking  out  by  an  em- 
ployer of  persons  employed  unless  the  difference  has  been  reported  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  unless  three  weeks  have  elapsed  since  the  report,  without 
the  Board  of  Trade  referring  the  difference  for  settlement,  (3)  the  tak- 
ing part  in  a  strike  unless  the  conditions  set  out  in  the  previous  paragraph 
have  been  fulfilled.^ 

The  other  offenses  dealt  with  by  the  general  tribunals  comprise 
(1)  the  employment  of  labor  in  violation  of  that  provision  of 
the  act  (now  abolished)  which  declared  that  the  laborer  who 
had  left  his  employment  without  a  "  leaving  certificate  "  should 
not  be  employed  within  a  period  of  six  weeks  after  he  had  left 
his  place  of  work;  (2)  failure  to  comply  with  any  directions 
given  by  the  Minister  as  to  the  rate  of  wages,  hours  of  labor  or 
conditions  of  employment  of  women  workers  or  unskilled  or  semi- 
skilled men;  and  (3)  wilful  delay  or  obstruction  of  an  inspector 
appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Munitions  in  the  exercise  of  his 
power  or  failure  to  give  information  or  produce  documents  re- 
quired by  the  inspector.^ 

The  local  munitions  tribunals  deal  generally  with  (1)  com- 
plaints that  any  person  has  acted  in  contravention  of,  or  failed 
to  comply  with,  regulations  made  applicable  to  controlled  estab- 
lishments in  which  he  is  either  an  employer  or  is  employed;  (2) 
breaches  by  war  munitions  volunteers  of  their  undertaking  to 
work  in  a  controlled  establishment ;  ( 3 )  complaints  by  a  work- 
man that  he  has  been  dismissed  from  his  employment  without 
reasonable  cause;  (4)  breaches  by  an  employer  of  his  undertaking 
to  employ  a  person  temporarily  released  from  naval  or  military 
service  or  a  war  munitions  volunteer  on  a  class  of  work  desig- 
nated by  the  Minister  of  Munitions;  (5)  complaints  by  workman 
that  an  employer  had  unreasonably  refused  or  neglected  to  issue 
a  certificate  that  the  workman  is  free  to  accept  other  employ- 
ment; (6)  complaints  by  workman  that  he  has  been  dismissed 
without  a  week's  notice  or  without  the  wages  to  be  given  in  lieu 
of  notice;  and  (7)  breaches  by  employers  of  the  rules  (now 
abrogated)  relating  to  "  leaving  certificates."  ^ 

1  Munitions  of  War  Acts,  1915  and  1916,  Munitions  Tribunals  (Pamphlet 
issued  by  Minister  of  Munitions,  January,  1917),  p.  1. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  2. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  3. 


108  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

The  general  and  the  local  tribunals  are  constituted  in  the  same 
way.  There  is  a  chairman,  appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Muni- 
tions or  by  the  Admiralty,  and  two  or  more  assessors,  one-half 
chosen  by  the  Minister  from  a  panel  of  employers  or  their  repre- 
sentatives and  the  other  half  chosen  by  the  Minister  from  a  panel 
of  workmen  or  their  representatives.^  Chairmen  of  general 
tribunals  are  usually  barristers  or  solicitors  and  of  local  tribunals 
are  usually  chairmen  of  courts  of  referees  under  the  National 
Insurance  Act. 

The  amended  act  (1916)  gives  a  right  of  appeal  from  a  deci- 
sion of  either  a  general  or  a  local  munitions  tribunal  to  a  judge  of 
the  highest  law  courts  in  cases  which  involve  "  a  question  of 
law  or  a  question  of  mixed  law  and  fact "  or  on  any  other 
ground  sanctioned  by  rules  of  procedure. 

The  amended  act  (1916)  also  provides  that  in  the  munitions 
tribunal  the  chairman,  before  giving  his  decision,  shall  consult 
with  the  assessors  and  in  all  cases  where  they  are  agreed  he  shall 
in  his  decision  give  effect  to  their  opinion,  except  in  questions 
which  appear  to  him  to  be  questions  of  law.  It  is  further  pro- 
vided that,  in  cases  affecting  female  labor,  at  least  one  of  the 
assessors  representing  the  workers  shall  be  a  woman.^ 

The  penalties  provided  by  the  act  for  failure  on  the  part  of 
workmen  to  comply  with  the  orders  of  the  Minister,  and  which 
the  munitions  tribunals  alone  were  empowered  to  impose,  no 
longer  include  imprisonment.^  Moderate  fines  may  be  imposed 
and  in  case  they  are  not  paid  the  munitions  tribunal  has  the 
power  to  order  the  employer  of  the  penalized  workman  to  deduct 
the  fine  in  instalments  from  the  wages  of  the  workman  and  to 
give  an  accounting  for  such  deductions.*  Imprisonment  may  be 
the  penalty  imposed  by  the  criminal  courts,  however,  for  tamper- 


1  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  IS.    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  pp.  51,  77-78. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sec.  18  (3).  Fyfe,  op.  cit, 
p.  79. 

3  Imprisonment  was  inflicted  for  nonpayment  of  a  fine  by  a  general 
tribunal  in  Scotland  early  in  1915,  but  the  decision  created  great  ill  feeling 
among  laborers.  The  imprisoned  man  was  released  by  order  of  the  Minister 
before  completing  his  term  and  when  the  act  was  amended  the  power  to 
imprison  was  taken  away  from  the  tribunal. 

♦Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  15  (4).    Fyfe,  p.  80. 


THE    MUNITIONS    OF    WAR   ACTS  109 

ing  with  certificates,  or  disclosing  information  obtained  for  the 
use  of  the  Minister  of  Munitions/ 

The  number  of  things  which  employers  are  forbidden  to  do 
and  which  if  done  by  them  render  them  liable  to  fine  are  more 
numerous  than  those  specified  as  violations  by  workmen,^  Like 
workmen,  employers  and  others  are  liable  to  prosecution  in  the 
criminal  courts  for  granting  false  certificates,  tampering  with 
leaving  certificates,  giving  false  information  to  the  government, 
etc.* 

Prohibition  of  Strikes 

The  Munitions  Act,  we  have  observed,  was  enacted  at  a  time 
when  there  had  been  a  recrudescence  of  strikes  following  a  short 
interval  of  industrial  peace,  and  it  was  intended,  among  other 
things,  to  put  an  end  to  stoppages  of  work  in  the  munitions 
industry.  The  act  accordingly  forbids  strikes  and  lock-outs  in 
establishments  engaged  on  munitions  work  until  the  industrial 
difference  has  been  referred  to  the  Board  of  Trade  *  and  twenty- 
one  days  have  elapsed  without  the  Board  of  Trade  having  taken 
steps  to  secure  a  settlement  in  ways  provided  by  the  act.® 

There  are  several  methods  (the  choice  between  them  being 
optional  with  the  Board  of  Trade)  for  settling  industrial  dififer- 
ences  when  they  have  been  referred  to  the  Board  of  Trade  for 
purpose  of  securing  a  settlement. 

(1)  The  Board  of  Trade  may  itself  "take  any  steps  which 
seem  to  them  expedient  to  promote  a  settlement  of  the 
diflFerence." " 

(2)  The  Board  of  Trade  may,  "if  in  their  opinion  suitable 
means  for  settlement  already  exist  in  pursuance  of  any 
agreement  between   employers   and   persons   employed," 

1  Munitions  of  War  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sec.  17  (2),  sec.  14.  Fyfe, 
op.  cit..  pp.  75-76. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  43-48. 

3  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  15  (4).    Fyfe,  p.  80. 

*  Since  the  establishment  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor  it  performs  the  func- 
tions ascribed  to  the  Board  of  Trade  in  this  chapter. 
5  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  2.    Fyfe,  p.  61. 
«  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  1   (2).    Fyfe,  pp.  59-60. 


110  BRITISH   LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

refer  the  difference  "  for  settlement  in  accordance  with 
those  means,"  and  if  the  settlement  is  unduly  delayed,  it 
may  annul  the  reference  and  substitute  any  of  the  other 
means.^ 

(3)  The  Board  of  Trade  may  refer  the  difference  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Production,  this  being  the  same  committee  which 
was  appointed  by  the  government  on  February  4,  1915. 

(4)  The  Board  of  Trade  may  refer  the  difference  to  a  single 
arbitrator  selected  by  the  parties  to  the  difference,  or  if 
they  fail  to  agree,  by  the  Board  of  Trade. 

(5)  The  Board  of  Trade  may  refer  the  difference  to  "  a  court 
of  arbitration  consisting  of  an  equal  number  of  persons 
representing  employers  and  persons  representing  workmen 
with  a  chairman  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Trade."  ^ 

(6)  The  Minister  of  Munitions  may  constitute  a  special  class 
of  arbitration  tribunals  to  deal  with  differences  relating  to 
the  wages  and  working  conditions  of  female  workers 
employed  on  munitions  work  or  those  involving  semi- 
skilled and  unskilled  workers  employed  on  munitions  work 
in  controlled  establishments  and  the  Board  of  Trade  may 
refer  any  such  differences  for  settlement  to  these  tri- 
bunals. The  Minister  may  also  ask  these  tribunals  for 
advice  "  as  to  what  directions  are  to  be  given  by  him  " 
in  regard  to  these  classes  of  workers.  Whenever  the 
differences  relate  to  female  workers  the  tribunals  must 
include  in  their  membership  one  or  more  women.^ 

The  arbitration  awards  are  not  subject  to  appeal,  are  binding 
on  all  parties  and  may  be  retrospective.*  A  failure  to  comply 
with  an  award  makes  the  guilty  party  liable  to  a  fine  not  exceed- 
ing £5  for  each  day  during  which  the  noncompliance  continues, 
and  (if  the  guilty  party  is  an  employer)  for  each  employe  in 
respect  of  whom  the  failure  to  comply  takes  place.°     The  same 

1  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  1  (2),  (3).    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  pp.  59-60. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  1   (2),  schedule  1.    Fyfe,  pp.  60-84. 

3  Munitions  of  War  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sees.  8,  6  and  7.    Fyfe,  pp.  35, 
60-61,  65,  72. 

*  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  1    (4).     Fyfe,  p.  60. 
6  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  14  (a).    Fyfe,  p.  76. 


THE   MUNITIONS   OF   WAR   ACTS  111 

penalties  apply  to  violations  in  the  shape  of  strikes  or  lockouts.^ 

The  Arbitration  Act  of  1889  does  not  apply  to  disputes  covered 
by  the  Munitions  Act,^  but  all  "  differences  as  to  rates  of  wages, 
hours  of  work,  or  otherwise  as  to  terms  or  conditions  of  or  affect- 
ing employment  on  or  in  connection  with  munitions  work  "  are 
subject  to  the  arbitration  provisions  of  the  Munitions  Act  whether 
or  not  such  differences  have  resulted  in  strikes  or  lockouts.^ 

The  arbitration  provisions  of  the  Munitions  Act  are  applicable 
not  only  to  munitions  work,  but  may  be  made  applicable  "  in  con- 
nection with  any  work  of  any  description  "  if  they  are  made 
applicable  by  the  government  on  the  ground  that  the  existence 
or  continuance  of  the  difference  is  likely  to  be  prejudicial  to  a 
supply  of  munitions.*  It  was  under  the  authority  of  this  section 
that  the  government  acted  when  it  attempted  to  apply  the  arbi- 
tration provisions  of  the  Munitions  Act  to  the  strike  of  the 
Welsh  coal  miners. 

To  say  that  all  differences  in  regard  to  wages,  hours,  etc.,  of 
workers  employed  on  munitions  work  are  subject  to  arbitration 
is,  however,  not  tantamount  to  saying  that,  when  such  differences 
arise,  they  are  immediately  referred  to  the  Board  of  Trade  to  be 
by  them  referred  to  one  of  the  agencies  for  effecting  a  settlement. 
For  when  a  difference  arises  in  a  contr611ed  establishment  or  as 
regards  the  employment  of  female  workers,  the  first  question  to 
be  asked  is  as  to  whether  any  proposed  change  in  wages  or  hours 
has  been  submitted  to  the  Minister  of  Munitions  for  his  approval. 
It  is  only  when  the  Minister  has  withheld  his  consent  that  arbitra- 
tion of  the  matter  is  called  for.  The  Minister  may,  however,  as 
we  have  already  observed,  refer  the  matter  to  a  special  arbitra- 
tion tribunal  for  advice  before  he  either  gives  or  withholds  his 
consent.^ 

Complaint  having  arisen  that  differences  under  section  1  of  the 
act  of  1915  were  not  always  reported  promptly  to  the  Board  of 

1  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  14  (b),  (c).    Fyfe,  op.  cit.,  pp.  76-77. 

2  Munitions  of  War  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sec.  23. 

8  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  3 ;  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sec.  9.  Fyfe, 
pp.  61-62. 

*  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  3.    Fyfe,  pp.  61-62. 

'  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  sec.  4  (2)  ;  Amendment  Act,  1916,  sec. 
8  (2).    Fyfe,  pp.  36,  62,  60. 


112  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

Trade  (Minister  of  Labor),  the  amending  act  of  1917  provided 
that  the  Minister  of  Labor  might  make  regulations  with  respect 
to  the  reporting  of  differences  with  a  view  to  preventing  undue 
delay  in  negotiating  for  the  settlement  of  such  differences.^ 

The  act  of  1917  also  provides  that  no  workman  employed  on 
or  in  connection  with  munition  work  may  be  discharged  on  the 
ground  that  he  has  joined  or  is  a  member  of  a  trade  union  or  that 
he  has  taken  part  in  any  trade  dispute.^ 

1  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1917,  sec.  6.    British  Industrial  Experience,  vol. 
1,  p.  262. 
-  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1917,  sec.  9.    Loc.  cit.,  pp.  263-264. 


CHAPTER  VI 
The  Supply  and  Distribution  of  Labor 

The  chief  purposes  of  the  Munitions  Acts  were  to  secure  con- 
tinuity and  regularity  of  effort  on  the  part  of  employes  engaged 
on  munitions  work  and  to  stimulate  the  maximum  production  of 
war  supplies  by  both  government  and  private  establishments.  To 
accomplish  these  ends  the  securing  of  an  adequate  labor  supply 
was  the  most  important  and  most  difficult  task. 

Shortage  of  Labor  Early  in  the  War 

The  shortage  of  male  labor,  which  developed  in  many  indus- 
tries as  early  as  December,  1914,  made  itself  felt  especially  in 
the  engineering  trades,  upon  which  the  government  was  most 
directly  dependent  for  its  supplies  of  munitions.  Recruiting  had 
been  allowed  to  proceed  unchecked  in  these  trades,  as  well  as  in 
others,  with  the  result  that  ere  long  skilled  workers  had  to  be 
withdrawn  from  the  army  to  supply  the  most  urgent  need  created 
by  the  shortage  of  labor  in  engineering  establishments.  The  rapid 
change  in  conditions  affecting  the  labor  supply  during  the  first 
half  of  1915  is  well  reflected  in  the  short  reviews  of  the  labor 
market  which  are  given  each  month  in  the  Board  of  Trade 
Labour  Gazette. 

In  January,  1915,  says  the  Gazette,  many  trades  were  still 
depressed.  Only  those  "  concerned  with  the  equipment  of  the 
Allied  forces  "  were  unusually  busy  and  "  in  some  of  these  trades 
there  was  a  shortage  of  skilled  labor  partly  owing  to  pressure  of 
work  and  partly  to  enlistments."  *  In  March  "  there  was  a  short- 
age of  male  labor  in  many  industries,  especially  in  engineering  and 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  37. 

118 


114  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

shipbuilding,  coal  mining  and  agriculture,  and  of  female  labor 
in  some  branches  of  the  clothing  trade."  ^ 

In  June  "  a  scarcity  of  male  labor  was  reported  by  nearly  all 
trades  owing  to  the  previously  existing  surplus  in  some  having 
been  absorbed  by  others  or  drawn  off  by  enlistments.  This 
shortage  is  now  extending  to  female  and  boy  labor  in  many 
occupations."  " 

To  supply  this  deficiency  of  male  labor  the  thoughts  of  employ- 
ers and  government  officials  turned  first  to  the  possibility  of 
.  securing  labor,  especially  skilled  labor,  from  other  industries  and 
from  other  districts.  No  figures  are  available  which  show  the 
full  extent  of  this  transference  of  labor,  most  of  which  doubtless 
took  place  during  the  first  year  of  the  war  on  the  mere  initiative 
of  the  workers,  who,  finding  their  services  in  greater  demand 
away  from  their  homes  or  in  other  industries  than  those  in  which 
they  were  customarily  employed,  migrated  thither  in  search  of 
employment  and  better  wages. 

Transfers  of  Labor  through  the  Employment 
Exchanges 

Every  effort  was  made  by  the  government  to  assist  in  this 
movement  through  the  labor  exchanges  in  so  far  as  it  related  to 
a  transference  from  other  industries  to  the  munitions  trades. 
From  the  records  of  the  exchanges  we  can  gain  some  idea  as  to 
the  extent  of  the  movement  from  one  exchange  district  to  another. 
There  are  in  the  United  Kingdom  about  400  public  labor  ex- 
changes or  employment  offices  in  each  of  which  registrations  are 
received  and  each  one  of  which  endeavors  to  fill  vacancies  in  its 
own  district  or  immediate  locality  or,  failing  in  this,  in  an  out- 
side district  by  cooperation  with  the  exchange  in  that  district. 

In  1913,  a  year  of  great  prosperity,  the  total  number  of 
vacancies  filled  by  all  exchanges  was  921,853.  Of  these  place- 
ments 110,992  or  12.4  per  cent  were  in  exchange  districts  outside 
those  in  which  the  applicants   were  registered.     In   1914  the 


^Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  115. 
2  ThiA    T^    iQi; 


Ubid.,  p.  195. 


THE    SUPPLY   AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF    LABOR  115 

total  number  of  vacancies  filled  was  1,116,909  and  of  this  num- 
ber 177,312  or  15.8  per  cent  were  placements  outside  the  exchange 
district  in  which  registration  took  place.  Furthermore  the  state- 
ment is  made  that  "  the  increase  is  mainly  accounted  for  by  the 
transference  during  the  last  six  months  of  the  year,"  i.e.,  during 
the  war  period,^  Only  24,201  of  these  transferences  in  1914 
were  from  one  of  the  eight  divisions  into  which  the  kingdom 
is  divided  to  another. 

In  1915,  although  there  was  a  decline  in  the  total  number  of 
registrations  as  compared  to  1914,  amounting  to  7.4  per  cent,  yet 
the  number  of  vacancies  filled  amounted  to  1,308,137,  an  increase 
of  17.1  per  cent  compared  to  the  preceding  year.  Although  the 
increases  in  the  registrations  and  vacancies  filled  in  1915  were 
almost  entirely  among  women  and  girls,  yet  "  the  number  of  per- 
sons for  whom  work  was  found  in  a  labor  exchange  area  other 
than  that  in  which  they  were  registered  was  283,644.  (Men 
196,057,  women  53,096,  boys  19,976,  girls  14,515.)  This  means 
that  21.6  per  cent  of  the  placements  for  the  year  were  outside  the 
districts  in  which  registration  took  place.  The  proportion  of  men 
transferred  was,  of  course,  much  larger.  Furthermore  the  aver- 
age distance  traveled  was  much  greater  since  67,557  of  the  trans- 
fers were  from  one  labor  division  of  the  kingdom  to  another.^ 

Not  all  the  transfers  were  caused  by  the  war,  but  most  of  them 
seem  to  have  been  made  in  response  to  the  demands  of  the  war 
industries.  Thus  89,638  of  the  men  transferred  were  employed 
in  the  building  of  huts  and  military  camps  and  in  the  construc- 
tion of  munitions  factories  and  of  public  works.  Of  those  trans- 
ferred, 50,564  of  the  men,  11,238  of  the  women,  9,868  of  the 
boys  and  443  of  the  girls  were  employed  directly  in  the  muni- 
tions trades.^ 

Governmental  Efforts  to  Prevent  Enlistments  from 
Essential  Industries 

Governmental  efforts  to  control  the  supply  and  distribution  of 
labor  were  next  turned  to  the  problem  of  preventing  or  restrict- 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  pp.  44-45.  2  ibid.,  1916,  p.  50. 


116  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

ing  enlistments  from  the  industries  and  occupations  of  primary 
importance  to  the  conduct  of  the  war.  As  already  mentioned  the 
recruiting  campaign  had  proceeded  without  reference  to  the  in- 
dustrial training  of  the  recruits  and  with  but  little  consideration 
of  the  need  for  §killed  workers  in  those  trades  upon  which  the 
output  of  war  supplies  depended. 

The  necessity  of  maintaining  the  transportation  system  in  a 
state  of  high  efficiency  was  realized  at  the  very  beginning  and  as 
early  as  September,  1914,  recruiting  officers  and  agencies  were 
instructed  by  the  war  office  to  allow  no  railway  man  to  enlist 
"  unless  he  presents  a  written  statement  from  the  railway  com- 
pany who  employs  him  to  the  effect  that  he  has  approached  the 
head  of  his  department  and  has  obtained  the  necessary  permis- 
sion to  enlist."  ^ 

In  spite  of  these  restrictions  the  railways  were  under  steady 
pressure  from  the  military  authorities  and  from  the  employes 
themselves  to  allow  enlistments  and  they  complied  with  these 
requests,  whenever  possible,  by  employing  as  substitutes  for  men 
of  military  age  men  who  were  ineligible  for  military  service  and 
women.  By  the  middle  of  October,  1914,  56,000  railway  men 
had  joined  the  colors  and  this  meant  nearly  ten  per  cent  of 
the  entire  railway  staff  of  the  country.  By  June,  1916,  the  ten 
larger  railway  systems  had  released  94,411  men  for  military  serv- 
ice and  this  constituted  from  15.1  to  22.2  per  cent  of  their  total 
staffs.  By  November  of  that  year  evidence  presented  to  the 
man  power  distribution  board  showed  that  nearly  140,000  men, 
or  about  25  per  cent  of  the  total  staff  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
and  over  50  per  cent  of  the  men  of  military  age  had  been  released 
for  the  army.^ 

Among  coal  miners,  enlistments  were  especially  numerous 
during  the  early  months  of  the  war.  A  wave  of  enthusiasm  spread 
throughout  the  coal  mining  districts  following  the  invasion  of 
Belgium  and  this  stimulus  to  recruiting  was  contributed  to  by  the 
small  industrial  demand  for  coal  which  was  a  feature  of  the  early 
weeks  of  the  war.    By  February,  1915,  it  was  officially  estimated 

1  Leland  Olds :  Railroad  Transportation,  Part  4  of  British  Industrial  Ex- 
perience during  the  War  (Senate  Document  No.  114,  65th  Cong..  1st  Sess.), 
vol.  2,  p.  1119.  ^Ibid..  pp.  1120-1123. 


THE    SUPPLY   AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF    LABOR  117 

that  approximately  167,500  miners  or  17.2  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  had  joined  the  colors.  The  output  of  coal  had  begun  to 
fall  off  and  because  of  the  curtailed  production  inconvenience  was 
being  experienced  m  some  of  the  manufacturing  districts.^ 

Among  the  manufacturing  industries  the  enlistments  from  the 
engineering,  shipbuilding,  chemical  and  leather  trades  were  espe- 
cially serious  in  their  effects  on  output  because  of  the  direct 
dependence  of  the  war  upon  these  industries  and  the  degree  of 
skill  required  of  the  operatives. 

A  Board  of  Trade  report  made  in  December,  1914,  gives  the 
following  estimates  as  to  the  number  of  enlistments  from  various 
trades  and  the  percentage  which  the  enlistments  made  of  the  total 
number  in  the  trade  according  to  the  census  of  1911 :  ^ 

Number  Employed  in  Each  Trade  or  Industry  According  to  Industrial 
Population  Census  of  1911,  and  Per  Cent  in  Each  Trade  Known 
*    to  Have  Joined  the  Colors 

Approximate  Per  cent 
•                   Industrial      Known  to  Have 

Trade  and  Industry                    Population  Joined  the 

Census,  1911  Forces 

Shipbuilding 164,000  13.6 

Leather  and  leather  goods   67,000  14.2 

Chemicals   (including  explosives)    122,000  15.4 

Engineering   665,000  14.6 

Woolen  and  worsted   129,000  7.2 

Boot  and  shoe  199,000  9.9 

Hosiery   18,000  7.5 

Iron  and  steel  311,000  13.9 

Food 315,000  13.4 

Sawmilling    44,000  14.2 

Coal  and  other  mines   1,164,000  13.7 

Clothing    235.000  12.5 

Paper  and  printing   240,000  12.5 

Linen,  j  ute  and  hemp   42,000  15.0 

Cotton   259,000  9.6 

Cycle,  motor  carriage  and  wagon  building 202,000  14.3 

China,  pottery  and  glass  83,000  13.3 

Building    1,023,000  12.2 

Furniture  and  upholstery  141,000  13.5 

Brick,  cement,  etc 78,000  13.5 

Tin  plate   23,000  8.3 

1  W.  J.  Lauck :  Coal  Mining,  Part  5  of  British  Industrial  Experience  dur- 
ing the  War,  vol.  2,  p.  1170. 

2  W.  J.  Lauck :  Manufacturing  Industries,  Part  3  of  British  Industrial  Ex- 
perience during  the  War,  vol.  2,  p.  947. 


118  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

The  fight  at  Neuve  Chapelle  aroused  Great  Britain  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  fact  that  the  success  of  the  war  was  as  much  dependent 
upon  a  plentiful  supply  of  munitions  as  upon  a  supply  of  fight- 
ing men  and  it  then  became  evident  that  a  mistake  had  been  made 
in  permitting  enlistments  of  skilled  workers  from  certain  trades. 
As  already  mentioned,  this  mistake  was  remedied  to  a  certain 
extent  by  the  actual  withdrawal  from  the  army  of  skilled  workers 
in  the  engineering  trades.^  No  figures  are  available  which  show 
the  extent  to  which  men  were  withdrawn  from  the  army  for 
work  in  munitions  plants,  but  such  withdrawals  were  difficult  to 
make,  largely  because  of  the  opposition  of  the  military  authori- 
ties to  the  withdrawal  of  men  whose  superior  abilities  had  made 
them  especially  valuable  soldiers.  No -proper  register  of  the 
occupations  of  men  who  enlisted  had  been  made  at  the  time  of 
their  enlistment.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  create  an  elabo- 
rate system  of  inspection  of  regiments  both  to  guard  against  the 
fraud  of  men  who  wished  to  escape  from  military  service,  by 
claiming  to  have  the  skill  needed  for  munitions  work,  and  to 
prevent  really  skilled  men  from  being  retained  in  the  army 
because  of  the  insistence  of  their  commanding  officers  when  such 
men  might  be  more  useful  in  the  manufacture  of  munitions. 
After  these  inspections  had  been  completed,  arrangements  were 
made  to  facilitate  the  release  of  skilled  workmen  for  whom  appli- 
cations had  been  received  from  the  firms  which  had  previously 
employed  them  and  which  were  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  munitions.  These  men  withdrawn  from  the  colors  remained 
liable  to  be  returned  to  military  service,  but  while  employed  in 
munitions  establishments  they  were  subject  to  the  same  law  as 
civilian  workmen  and  were  subject  to  military  discipline  only  in 
regard  to  such  matters  as  their  behavior  on  streets,  etc.  They 
received  the  same  wages  as  civilian  workmen,  performing  similar 
duties,  but  the  proviso  was  made  that  these  wages  were  to  be  not 
less  than  the  rate  of  army  pay  they  were  receiving  at  the  time  of 
their  release. 

*  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  sec.  F.  Draft 
Interim  Report  of  the  Conference  to  Investigate  into  Outlets  for  Labor 
after  the  War,  p.  6. 


THE   SUPPLY    AND    DISTRIBUTION    OF    LABOR  119 

Further  efforts  were  made  by  the  government  to  prevent  the 
enlistment  of  skilled  workers  in  November,  1915,  when  it  was 
announced  that  an  interdepartmental  advisory  committee  was 
"  engaged  in  preparing  lists  of  reserved  occupations,  i.e.,  occupa- 
tions from  which  enlistments  should  be  restricted  in  view  of  the 
necessity  of  maintaining  the  trade  of  the  country  as  far  as 
possible,"  and  employers  in  these  trades  were  invited  to  make 
recommendations  to  the  secretary  of  the  committee  "  with  refer- 
ence to  indispensable  and  irreplaceable  classes  of  labor."  ^  This 
schedule  of  indispensable  occupations  superseded  the  system  of 
badges  to  munitions  volunteers  in  May,  1916. 

Overtime  Work  as  a  Cure  for  Labor  Shortage 

The  way  in  which  many  employers  sought  to  solve  their  labor 
difficulties  during  the  first  year  of  the  war,  in  particular,  was  by 
working  their  existing  forces  overtime.  There  were  several  cir- 
cumstances which  favored  this.  The  employes  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  patriotism  and  anxious  to  help  the  men  in  the  trenches 
win  the  war  entered  little  objection  during  these  early  months  to 
working  long  hours.  Higher  rates  of  pay  for  overtime  naturally 
contributed  to  their  willingness  to  work,  and  it  was  not  long  until 
the  higher  earnings  secured  in  this  way  were  actually  made 
necessary  by  the  increased  cost  of  living.  Employers,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  not  reluctant  to  pay  the  higher  rates  for  over- 
time because  the  terms  of  their  contracts  with  the  government 
easily  made  this  possible.  Furthermore,  as  far  as  skilled  labor 
was  concerned  there  was  no  immediately  available  supply  on 
which  to  draw  and  even  the  existing  supply  was  being  steadily 
depleted  by  enlistments.  Overtime,  therefore,  became  the  rule,  at 
first  in  those  trades  working  directly  on  government  orders,  but 
later  in  other  trades  as  well. 

Under  section  150  of  the  Factories  Act  of  1901  the  Secretary 
of  State  is  authorized  in  case  of  any  public  emergency  to  exempt 
from  the  act,  by  order  made  by  him,  any  factory  or  workshop 
in  respect  to  work  which  is  undertaken  on  behalf  of  the  Crown. 

1  Labour  Gasette,  1915,  p.  391. 


120  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

The  question  now  arose  as  to  how  much  latitude  should  be  given 
to  employers  to  work  the  protected  classes  long  hours  under  the 
provisions  of  this  exemption.  It  was  generally  held  that  over- 
time work  was  necessary,  especially  in  the  munitions  trades,  and 
those  who  deplored  the  necessity  comforted  themselves  with  the 
thought  that  the  war  would  be  a  short  one.  During  the  year  1915 
the  authority  to  suspend  the  Factories  Act  was  extended  by 
clause  6 A  of  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Regulations  to  "  any 
factory  or  workshop  in  which  the  Secretary  of  State  is  satisfied 
that  by  reason  of  the  loss  of  men  through  enlistment  or  trans- 
ference in  government  service,  or  of  other  circumstances  arising 
out  of  the  present  war,  exemption  is  necessary  to  secure  the  carry- 
ing on  of  work  required  in  the  national  interests."  ' 

Applications  to  work  overtime  began  to  pour  in  on  the  Facto- 
ries Department  from  all  over  the  kingdom  as  soon  as  government 
orders  began  to  be  placed  and  such  applications  have  continued 
to  be  made  throughout  the  war,  although,  perhaps,  lately  with  less 
frequency.  The  earliest  trades  to  be  affected  were  those  directly 
concerned  with  the  manufacture  of  munitions.  Next  came  the 
demand  from  the  woolen  trades,  from  hosiery  factories  and  from 
the  clothing  trades,  especially  those  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  army  clothing  and  of  boots  and  shoes.  Other  applications 
were  received  from  those  trades  manufacturing  surgical  dress- 
ings, metal  accessories,  such  as  buckles,  spurs,  bits  and  horse- 
shoes, and  from  a  large  number  of  miscellaneous  trades. 

The  department's  method  of  handling  the  problem  was  to  make 
temporary  orders  permitting  overtime,  not  to  exceed  two  hours  a 
day,  on  not  more  than  five  days  a  week.  Additional  hours  were 
permitted  in  the  munitions  trades.  In  these  trades  the  hours  of 
labor  oftentimes  extended  to  fourteen  or  fifteen  per  day  and 
Sunday  labor  and  night  work  were  usual.  Between  August  4, 
1914,  and  February  19,  1915,  not  less  than  3,141  orders  were 
granted .  permitting  overtime  work  for  women  and  young  per- 
sons to  whom  alone  the  Factories  Act  applies.  Of  this  number 
748  were  in  the  woolen  manufacture,  231  in  the  hosiery  manufac- 
ture, 514  in  the  manufacture  of  uniforms,  245  in  the  manufacture 

*  Annual  Report  of  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  and  Workshops,  1915,  p.  S. 


THE    SUPPLY    AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF    LABOR  121 

of  boots  and  shoes,  151  in  the  manufacture  of  munitions  of  war 
and  137  in  the  manufacture  of  canvas  equipment. 

Not  all  manufacturers  awaited  the  pleasure  of  the  factory  in- 
spectors in  the  matter  of  working  overtime.  Although  the 
inspectors  endeavored  to  make  it  clear  to  all  that  permission  to 
work  overtime  was  for  only  a  limited  number  of  hours,  the 
impression  prevailed  in  many  quarters  that  the  government  had 
suspended  the  Factories  Acts  for  the  period  of  the  war.  There 
were,  accordingly,  many  cases  where  long  hours  were  worked 
without  legal  permission  having  been  given. 

For  men  workers  the  Factories  Acts  of  course  do  not  apply 
and  therefore  no  permission  was  necessary  to  employ  male  adults 
beyond  the  usual  number  of  hours.  During  the  first  year  of  the 
war  it  seems  to  have  been  the  aim  of  most  manufacturers  to  work 
as  much  overtime  as  the  workers  themselves  were  willing  to  allow. 
At  the  time  the  Health  of  Munitions  Workers  Committee  con- 
ducted its  investigation  on  the  subject  of  "  Hours  of  Work,"  in 
1915,  it  found  that  men  were  being  worked  sometimes  as  many 
as  108  hours  a  week.  Boys  under  18  frequently  worked  as 
many  as  90  or  100  hours,  and  some  women  and  girls  were  regu- 
larly employed  for  77  hours  a  week. 

Requests  for  permission  to  work  overtime  continued  unabated 
throughout  1915,  but  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  notes  the 
fact  that  there  was  "  a  marked  reduction  in  the  amount  of  lati- 
tude sought  and  allowed;  for  instance,  fresh  demands  for  per- 
mission to  work  on  Sundays  are  now  rarely  received  and  are 
confined  to  cases  where  sudden  and  unexpected  emergencies 
arise  or  the  processes  are  continuous.  Requests  for  Saturday 
afternoon  work  have  also  become  less  common  and  there  seems 
to  be  a  more  general  recognition  of  the  advantages  of  a  week-end 
rest." ' 

The  Factories  Department  also  became  more  strict  in  its  allow- 
ances of  overtime.  The  Chief  Inspector  reported  that  there  was 
no  set  scheme  throughout  the  kingdom  for  the  general  arrange- 


*  Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  and  Workshops,  1915, 
p.  5. 


122  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

ment  of  hours  when  overtime  was  worked.  Different  systems 
were  adopted  in  different  locaHties  and  employers  seem  to  have 
been  governed  chiefly  by  the  custom  of  the  district.  In  some 
instances  there  was  overtime  on  each  day  of  the  week,  while  in 
other  places  overtime  was  worked  on  only  two  or  three  days. 
The  desire  of  the  workers  not  to  work  late  in  the  evening  had  led 
in  some  instances  to  a  long  spell  of  work  in  the  afternoon  without 
any  interval  for  the  evening  meal,  but  experience  seemed  to  indi- 
cate that  long  spells  of  work  without  interruption  did  not  lead  to 
high  output.  Accordingly,  the  department  established  the  rule 
that  for  the  protected  classes  of  labor  not  more  than  five  contin- 
uous hours  should  be  worked  in  textile  factories,  nor  more  than 
five  and  one-half  hours  in  nontextile  works,  and  that  even  these 
hours  might  not  be  worked  unless  tea  or  other  hot  refreshments 
were  available  in  the  rooms  for  the  workers  during  the  Spell.  A 
break  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  the  afternoon,  instead  of  a  half 
hour,  was  permitted  provided  (a)  that  the  working  spell  did  not 
exceed  six  hours;  (b)  that  a  whole  hour  was  allowed  for  dinner; 
and  (c)  that  the  inspectors  were  satisfied  that  adequate  arrange- 
ments had  been  made  for  serving  tea  to  workers  as  soon  as  they 
stopped  work.^ 

In  munitions  establishments  the  demand  for  overtime  work 
was  more  urgent  than  elsewhere  and  permission  to  work  over- 
time was  granted  with  less  reluctance.  We  have  already  noted 
the  wider  latitude  given  employers  in  these  trades.  After  six 
months'  experience  with  such  work  the  department  issued  a  gen- 
eral order  applicable  only  to  munitions  establishments  and  which 
provided  for  overtime  work  in  accordance  with  any  one  of  three 
schemes. 

1.  Overtime  with  a  limit  of  five  hours  per  week  for  women,  boys  between 
14  and  16  and  girls  between  16  and  18  years  of  age,  and  of  iVz  hours  for 
boys  over  16  years  and  also  (in  a  few  cases  of  special  urgency)   for  women. 

2.  Day  and  night  shifts  for  women  and  boys  over  16  years,  and  in  certain 
cases  for  boys  14  years  of  age. 

3.  Eight  hour  shifts  for  women,  girls  over  16  and  boys  over  14  years  of 
age. 

1  Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  and  Workshops,  1915, 
p.  8. 


tHE    SUPPLY. AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF   LABOR  123 

For  the  large  munitions  establishments  it  was  found  necessary 
in  some  cases  to  issue  special  orders  which  permitted  overtime 
somewhat  in  advance  of  that  covered  by  the  general  order.  Even 
as  early  as  1915,  however,  it  had  been  noted  that  there  was  a 
distinct  tendency  towards  a  reduction  of  hours  in  munitions 
plants  as  well  as  elsewhere.  Sunday  labor  had  been  found  to  be 
especially  objectfonable.  Not  only  had  the  Health  of  Munitions 
Workers  Committee  recommended  the  abandonment  of  Sunday 
work  but  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  had  also  recommended  to 
employers  that  they  abstain  wherever  possible  from  Sunday 
work,  especially  where  overtime  was  worked  during  the  week.^ 

During  the  year  1916  the  Chief  Inspector  reported  that  "  there 
has  been  a  notable  decrease  in  the  requests  for  the  long  hours 
that  were  common  in  the  early  months  of  the  war.  The  general 
tendency  has  been  to  restrict  the  weekly  hours  of  work  to  an 
amount  very  little,  if  at  all,  in  excess  of  those  allowed  under  the 
Factories  Act,  and  to  arrange  for  more  elasticity  in  the  daily 
limits. 

While  in  many  of  the  munitions  factories  and  in  the  machine 
tool  and  similar  works  full  use  had  been  made  of  the  overtime 
allowed,  in  other  cases  overtime  work  was  intermittent.  It  was 
noted  that  in  those  cases  where  special  orders  had  been  granted 
to  meet  sudden  emergencies,  advantage  had  not  been  taken  of 
the  permission  granted  in  every  case.  One  employer  expressed 
what  seemed  to  be  a  general  opinion  when  he  said  that  the  special 
orders  were  "  like  a  drop  of  brandy,  a  useful  thing  to  keep  in  the 
house,  but  you  don't  want  to  be  always  taking  it."  ^ 

Even  in  the  case  of  adult  male  labor  it  began  to  be  realized 
that  excessive  hours  of  labor  and  Sunday  labor  were  inadvisable. 
Although  the  Minister  of  Munitions  had  no  statutory  power  to 
restrict  the  hours  for  men  workers,  recommendations  were  made 
by  him  that  moderation  be  shown  in  the  matter  of  overtime  and 
by  the  end  of  the  second  year  of  the  war  Sunday  labor  had  been 
generally  discontinued  in  controlled  establishments  and  the  Min- 

1  Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  and  Workshops,  1915, 
p.  6. 

2  Ibid.,  1916,  p.  3. 


124  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

istry  was  endeavoring  to  get  it  discontinued  throughout  the 
country  on  the  ground  that  it  hindered,  rather  than  facilitated, 
maximum  production. 

Appeals  for  Voluntary  Registrants  for  Munitions  Work 

Reluctance  to  use  the  compulsory  powers  oi  the  government 
to  mobilize  the  industrial  forces  of  the  nation  even  in  war  times 
is  a  characteristic  of  Anglo-Saxon  countries,  and  English  experi- 
ence in  this  matter  is  in  sharp  contrast  with  that  of  the  conti- 
nental countries,  in  which  compulsion  for  civilian  as  well  as  mili- 
tary purposes  was  adopted  with  little  hesitation  in  the  early 
months  of  the  war.  Although  there  was  during  the  early  months 
of  the  year  1915  much  talk  in  England  of  "  conscription  of 
labor,"  apparently  intended  to  serve  as  a  parallel  to,  and  an 
excuse  for,  conscription  for  military  purposes,  there  was  so 
much  objection  to  the  plan  among  the  working  classes  that  the 
government  found  it  desirable  to  disavow  any  such  intention^ 
in  making  its  appeal  for  the  passage  of  the  Munitions  of  War 
Act,  1915. 

Instead  of  conscripting  men  and  women  for  industrial  pur- 
poses, the  government  has  sought  by  every  means  possible  to 
discover  the  extent  and  character  of  the  labor  supply  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  and  by  a  policy  of  classifying  the  trades  and 
restricting  the  entrance  of  labor  into  the  non-essential  ones  has 
left  it  little  alternative  but  to  enter  those  trades  and  industries 
which  have  been  deemed  essential  for  the  successful  prosecution 
of  the  war. 

The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  taken  in  March,  1915,  when 
the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  issued  an  appeal  to  the 
women  "who  are  prepared,  if  needed  to  take  paid  employment 
of  any  kind — industrial,  agricultural,  clerical,  etc. — to  enter 
themselves  upon  the  register  of  women  for  war  service  which  is 
being  prepared  by  the  Board  of  Trade  labor  exchanges."  The 
object  of  registration  it  was  said  "is  to  find  out  what  reserve 
force  of  women's  labor,  trained  or  untrained,  can  be  made  avail- 

1  See  ante,  p.  94. 


THE    SUPPLY   AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF  LABOR  125 

able,  if  required."  Women  were  urged  to  register  by  this  appeal 
to  their  patriotism :  "  any  woman  who  by  working  helps  to 
release  a  man  or  to  equip  a  man  for  fighting  does  national  war 
service."  * 

Measured  solely  by  the  number  who  availed  themselves  of  this 
opportunity  to  register  for  war  service,  this  appeal  to  the  patriot- 
ism of  the  women  was  fairly  productive;  110,700  women  were 
said  to  have  enrolled  by  the  middle  of  September.  Judged  by  the 
immediate  availability  of  this  potential  supply  of  labor,  how- 
ever, but  little  was  accomplished  by  the  registration,  for  an 
examination  of  the  returns  showed  that  only  5,500  women  were 
able  to  undertake  the  skilled  jobs  open  to  them.^ 

Not  discouraged  with  the  results  attained  by  this  registration 
the  government  next  proceeded  to  invite  registration  of  men  from 
those  trades  whose  relation  to  the  conduct  of  the  war  was  most 
intimate.  In  June,  1915,  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  acting  in 
cooperation  with  the  National  Advisory  Committee  of  the  Trade 
Unions  invited  "  all  skilled  workers  in  the  engineering,  ship- 
building and  allied  trades,  not  already  engaged  on  war  contracts," 
to  register  themselves  at  munitions  work  bureaus  open  for  this 
purpose  at  some  400  places  throughout  the  United  Kingdom. 
Registration  rendered  a  man  liable  to  transfer  to  government 
work  in  any  part  of  the  country  on  the  following  conditions: 

1.  The  rate  of  wages  paid  will  be  the  rate  of  the  district  to  which  he  is 
transferred  unless  the  rate  of  the  district  which  he  leaves  is  higher,  in  which 
case  he  will  be  paid  at  the  higher  rate. 

2.  Certain  traveling  and  subsistence  allowances  will  be  paid  in  reasonable 
cases. 

3.  The  first  period  of  enrolment  to  be  for  six  months,  but  workmen  may 
volunteer  for  a  further  period  when  this  has  expired. 

4.  Any  workman  transferred  from  employment  shall,  if  found  suitable, 
be  guaranteed  employment  during  the  war  for  a  period  not  exceeding  six 
months. 

5.  The  workman  agrees  that  any  breach  of  his  undertaking  shall  be  dealt 
with  by  a  Munitions  Court,  consisting  of  a  chairman  appointed  by  the  Min- 
ister of  Munitions,  with  assessors,  equally  representing  employers  and  work- 
men, which  may,  if  it  thinks  fit,  impose  a  fine  not  exceeding  £3.^ 

1  British  Industrial  Experience  during  the  War,  vol.  3,  p.  709. 

2  British  Association,  Credit,  Industry  and  the  War,  p.  72. 
^Labour  Gazette,  July,  1915. 


126  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND    LEGISLATION 

This  plan  of  voluntary  registration  had  been  adopted  by  the 
government  at  the  urgent  request  of  the  trade  unions  in  the 
engineering  and  shipbuilding  trades  while  the  Munitions  Bill 
was  under  consideration  in  the  House  of  Commons.  They  hoped 
to  show  that  voluntary  enlistment  was  sufficient  without  any 
degree  of  compulsion,  and  hoped  that  the  success  of  the  scheme 
would  be  such  that  the  government  would  abandon,  or  at  least 
materially  modify,  the  Munitions  Bill/ 

At  first  the  plan  seemed  likely  to  succeed.  Registration  began 
on  the  evening  of  June  24  and  46,000  men  enrolled  the  first 
week.  By  July  10  about  90,000  volunteers  were  registered. 
When  the  lists  were  carefully  inspected,  however,  it  was  seen 
that  four- fifths  of  the  volunteers  were  already  engaged  on 
government  work  and  that  dilution  of  labor  must  be  resorted  to. 
The  government  found  the  plan  sufficiently  useful,  however,  to 
continue  it  and  made  a  place  for  it  in  the  Munitions  of  War  Act, 
1915.^  Those  who  register  under  this  plan  are  technically  known 
as  "  war  munitions  volunteers,"  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
army  reserve  munitions  workers  who  are  released  from  military 
service  to  work  in  munitions  plants.  In  order  to  protect  these 
volunteers  from  insistent  appeals  from  recruiting  officers,  the 
act  provided  a  scheme  of  war  service  badges  to  be  worn  by  such 
workers  and  rules  were  drawn  up  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions 
to  govern  the  use  of  these  badges  and  to  prevent  their  fraudu- 
lent transfer  to  other  workers.^  There  was  no  guarantee  that 
wearers  of  these  badges  would  be  exempt  from  military  service 
and  in  May,  1917,  it  became  necessary  to  withdraw  the  privileges 
conferred  by  these  badges  and  to  make  their  wearers  subject  to 
the  military  service  acts. 

Compulsory  Registration  for  Industrial  Purposes 

The  government  next  undertook  to  secure  registration  on  a 
much  larger  scale.    On  July  15,  1915,  the  National  Registration 

1  H.  L.  Gray :  War  Time  Control  of  Industry,  p.  32. 

2  Sec.  8.  Fyfe :  Employers  and  Workmen  under  the  Munitions  of  War 
Acts,  p.  72. 

»Fyfe,  pp.  171,  174. 


THE    SUPPLY    AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF  LABOR  127 

Act  was  passed,  which  provided  for  the  registration  "  of  all  per- 
sons, male  and  female,  between  the  ages  of  15  and  65  "  who  were 
not  in  the  naval  or  military  service,  together  with  a  record  of 
their  ages,  nationalities,  marital  conditions,  number  of  depend- 
ents, professions  or  occupations.    The  record  was  also  to  indicate : 

(1)  Whether  the  work  on  which  he  (the  registrant)  is  employed  is  work 
for  or  under  any  government   department. 

(2)  Whether  he  is  skilled  m  and  able  to  perform  any  work  other  than 
the  work  (if  any)  at  which  he  is  at  the  time  employed,  and,  if  so,  the 
nature  thereof. 

The  Registrar  General,  acting  under  the  directions  of  the  Local 
Government  Board,  was  made  the  central  registration  authority 
and  the  common  councils  of  the  various  metropolitan  and  munici- 
pal boroughs  and  of  urban  and  rural  districts  were  made  respon- 
sible for  the  registration  in  their  respective  areas. 

The  instructions  issued  by  the  Local  Government  Board  to  the 
local  authorities  in  charge  of  this  registration  emphasized  the 
importance  of  stating  occupations  with  the  utmost  care,  "  espe- 
cially by  persons  having  technical  knowledge  or  skill,  such  as 
workers  in  engineering,  shipbuilding  and  other  metal  trades,  and 
by  persons  engaged  in  agriculture." 

The  nation  seems  to  have  entered  upon  this  registration  with 
much  enthusiasm  and  the  press  declared  that  it  "  marked  the 
decision  of  the  people  that  the  whole  man  and  woman  power  of 
the  kingdom  should  be  applied  to  the  task  of  beating  Germany,"  * 
but  although  penalties  were  provided  for  persons  refusing  or 
neglecting  to  register  and  to  furnish  the  information  required  by 
the  act,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  registration  was  at  all  com- 
plete or  that  the  information  secured  was  of  much  value  to  the 
government  in  its  efforts  to  mobilize  the  industrial  forces  of  the 
nation,  although  it  was  made  much  use  of  by  recruiting  officers. 

Industrial  Exemptions  under  the  Military  Service  Acts 

The  Military  Service  Act  of  January  27,  1916,  called  into  the 
military  service  "  with  the  colors  or  in  the  reserve  for  the  period 
^British  Industrial  Experience  during  the  War,  vol.  1,  p.  42. 


128  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

of  the  war  "  every  unmarried  man  between  the  ages  of  18  and  40, 
inclusive,  and  the  Amendment  Act  of  May  25,  1916,  made  con- 
scription appHcable  to  "  every  male  British  subject  "  within  the 
ages  mentioned.  Both  acts,  however,  provided  that  exemptions 
might  be  granted  to  any  man  on  grounds  of  ill  health,  infirmity, 
conscientious  objection  to  military  service,  exceptional  financial 
or  business  obligations  or  domestic  position,  or  "  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  expedient  in  the  national  interests  that  he  should,  instead 
of  being  employed  in  military  service,  be  engaged  in  other  work 
in  which  he  is  habitually  engaged  or,  if  he  is  being  educated  or 
trained  for  any  work,  that  he  should  continue  to  be  so  educated 
or  trained."  Exemptions  might  also  be  granted  by  any  govern- 
ment department,  after  consultation  with  the  army  council,  to 
"  men  who  are  employed  or  engaged  or  qualified  for  employ- 
ment or  engagement  in  any  work  which  is  certified  by  the  depart- 
ment to  be  work  of  national  importance  and  whose  exemption 
comes  within  the  sphere  of  the  department." 

Provision  was  made  for  the  representation  of  labor,  whether 
organized  or  unorganized,  on  the  military  service  tribunals 
which  were  created  to  pass  on  the  question  of  exemptions.  The 
circular  of  instructions  issued  by  the  Local  Government  Board  to 
local  bodies  charged  with  the  selection  of  the  military  service 
tribunals  urged  these  tribunals  to  "  be  most  careful  to  avoid  the 
slightest  tendency  to  what  might  appear  to  be  industrial  com- 
pulsion." ^ 

Armed  with  the  powers  of  military  conscription,  the  govern- 
ment has  been  in  a  measure  free  to  dispose  of  the  services  of  its 
male  population  of  military  age  in  whatever  way  it  has  seen  fit, 
whether  in  the  army,  the  navy  or  in  industry.  During  the  year 
1916,  the  need  of  men  for  the  war  industries  appears  to  have 
been  felt  fully  as  keenly  as  the  need  for  fighting  men  and  a  liberal 
policy  of  exemptions  was  followed.  Taking  advantage  of  that 
provision  of  the  Military  Service  Act  which  allowed  a  govern- 
ment department  to  grant  exemption,  after  consultation  with  the 
Army  Council,  to  men  engaged  in  work  of  national  importance 

^British  Industrial  Experience  during  the  War,  vol.  1,  p.  719. 


THE    SUPPLY    AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF  LABOR  129 

and  whose  exemption  comes  within  the  sphere  of  the  department, 
the  Board  of  Trade  on  June  9,  1916,  granted  exemption  from 
military  service  to  dock  and  wharf  laborers  and  other  persons, 
"  excluding  clerks,"  employed  on  the  maintenance  of  ports,  docks, 
wharves  and  waterways."  '  In  November,  1916,  the  government 
entered  into  arrangements  with  certain  unions,  notably  the 
Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,  whereby  no  recruiting  ofificer 
could  call  up  for  service  with  the  colors  any  workman  who  held 
a  "trade  card  "  evidencing  his  membership  in  any  one  of  certain 
specified  trade  unions  of  skilled  craftsmen.  In  May,  1917,  this 
arrangement  had  to  be  withdrawn  owing  to  the  growing  need  of 
men  for  military  service.  Both  the  limited  character  of  the 
agreement  and  its  withdrawal  caused  great  irritation  throughout 
the  working  districts  and  led  to  a  strike  of  large  proportions  in 
the  engineering  trades  in  the  spring  of  1917. 

Although  the  government  may  fairly  be  charged  with  lack  of 
consistency  in  its  policy  of  exempting  workers  for  industrial 
reasons,  it  may  be  said  that  the  military  situation  was  such  that 
the  pursuit  of  any  consistent  policy  was  well  nigh  impossible.  By 
the  beginning  of  the  last  quarter  of  1916,  the  need  of  men  for 
military  service  had  become  so  urgent  that  it  was  deemed  neces- 
sary to  release  for  military  service  certain  men  who  had  pre- 
viously been  granted  exemption  badges  on  the  ground  that  the 
work  on  which  they  had  been  engaged  was  of  national  impor- 
tance. In  October  and  December  of  that  year  unskilled  and  semi- 
skilled men  of  military  age  who  were  engaged  on  munition  work 
and  for  whom  substitutes  could  be  found  were  to  be  released  for 
military  service,  if  found  medically  fit.  Their  substitutes  were 
to  come  mainly  from  the  following  sources  : 

(a)  Men  in  the  army  unfit  for  general  service  and  surplus  to  military 
requirements ; 

(b)  Men  granted  exemption  by  tribunals  on  condition  of  taking  up  work 
of  national  importance ; 

(c)  Men  called  up  by  recruiting  officers  and  not  required  for  the  army 
because  of  their  medical  category.^ 

1  British  Industrial  Experience  during  the  War,  vol.  1,  p.  720. 
^Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  56. 


130  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

Employers  in  the  munitions  trades  were  to  furnish  to  the  Min- 
istry of  Munitions  lists  of  men  to  whom  badges  had  been  issued 
and  such  men  after  a  medical  examination  had  disclosed  their 
fitness  for  military  service  were  to  be  released  for  such  service  as 
soon  as  the  employment  (labor)  exchanges  in  collaboration  with 
other  government  departments  and  the  Army  Council  had  ar- 
ranged for  their  substitutes,  as  above  mentioned. 

These  substitutes  who  were  suitable  for  munitions  work  and 
who  were  willing  to  undertake  it  were  enrolled  by  the  officials  of 
the  employment  exchanges  at  first  as  army  reserve  munitions 
workers.  Men  who  were  not  found  suitable  for  munitions  work 
were  nevertheless  registered  (though  not  as  army  reserve  work- 
ers) as  possible  substitutes  in  other  industries.^ 

By  the  first  of  December,  1916,  the  need  of  men  in  the  army 
had  become  so  urgent  that  the  government  had  to  announce  that 
tribunals  could  no  longer  grant  exemption  "  on  grounds  of  busi- 
ness or  employment,"  except  for  highly  exceptional  reasons,  to 
any  man  under  26  years  of  age,  since  any  such  man  "  who  is  fit 
for  general  service  is  of  more  value  to  the  country  with  the  forces 
than  he  would  be  in  civil  employment,"  ^  and  by  January  20, 
1917,  the  same  rule  was  laid  down  for  men  under  31  years  of 
age.' 

National  Service  Scheme 

In  December,  1916,  Lloyd  George  announced  that  the  uni- 
versal national  service  policy  which  had  been  determined  upon  by 
the  late  government  would  be  put  into  effect  with  Neville  Cham- 
berlin,  Lord  Mayor  of  Birmingham,  as  director.  In  accordance 
with  this  plan,  industries  and  occupations  would  be  scheduled 
according  to  their  essential  utility  in  war  time  and  laborers  would 
be  invited  to  enroll  for  war  work.  If  they  did  not  respond  in 
sufficient  numbers  the  government  would  use  its  powers  to  direct 
them  where  they  were  most  needed.* 

^Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  56. 

^British  Industrial  Experience,  etc.,  vol.  1,  pp.  723-724. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  724-725. 

*  Gray,  op.  cit.,  pp.  45-46. 


THE   SUPPLY   AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF   LABOR  131 

It  was  in  accordance  with  this  plan  that  the  Minister  of  Muni- 
tions found  it  necessary  to  issue  an  order  under  the  authority  of 
the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Regulation  8 A,  whereby  men  of 
military  age  (18  to  60  inclusive)  were  not  allowed  to  enter  any 
one  of  a  long  list  of  occupations  contained  in  a  schedule  accom- 
panying the  order,  except  "  with  the  consent  of  the  Director 
General  of  National  Service,  given  on  the  ground  that  the 
employment  is  expedient  for  the  purpose  of  executing  a  govern- 
ment contract,  or  on  the  ground  that  the  work  on  which  the  men 
are  to  be  employed  is  of  national  importance."  These  occupa- 
tions included  the  manufacture  of  a  large  number  of  commodities, 
either  luxuries  or  generally  believed  to  be  not  essential  in  war 
times,  and  also  included  the  distribution  and  sale  of  such  com- 
modities. The  effect  of  this  order  was  not  to  cause  an  immediate 
cessation  of  these  industries,  but  to  prevent  their  expansion  un- 
less such  expansion  could  be  secured  by  the  employment  of 
women,  boys  or  old  men. 

The  Director  General  of  National  Service  issued  at  about  the 
same  time  as  the  issuance  of  the  order  of  the  Ministry  of  Muni- 
tions containing  the  list  of  restricted  occupations,  a  list  of  "  trades 
and  occupations  of  primary  importance  "  ^  into  which  new  labor 
was  urged  to  go  in  the. national  interest.  This  list  included  not 
only  the  munition  trades  but  many  other  industries  deemed  essen- 
tial for  the  health  and  efficiency  of  the  people  and  for  the  success- 
ful conduct  of  the  war. 

The  Ministry  of  National  Service  was  created  by  act  of  Parlia- 
ment, March  28,  1917,  "  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  best  use 
of  all  persons,  whether  men  or  women,  able  to  work  in  any  indus- 
try, occupation  or  service."  ^  The  Minister  was  given  the  title  of 
Director  General  of  National  Service.  By  him  an  appeal  was 
made  for  volunteers  to  be  known  as  national  service  volunteers 
who  were  to  go  into  any  work  to  which  they  might  be  sent.  It 
was  for  the  purpose  of  guiding  the  employment  exchanges  in 
allocating  these  volunteers  to  their  work  that  the  Director  Gen- 

1  British  Industrial  Experience,  etc.,  vol.  1,  pp.  725-729. 
2/&uf.,  pp.  733-73^. 


132  BRITISH   LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

eral  of  National  Service  issued  this  list  of  "  trades  and  occupa- 
tions of  primary  importance  "  just  referred  to. 

The  Ministry  of  National  Service  was  organized  on  a  large 
scale.  Much  labor  and  money  was  spent  on  organization  and 
advertising  and  several  hundred  thousand  men  were  enrolled 
within  a  few  weeks  as  national  service  volunteers.  The  plan  at 
first  seemed  to  be  a  failure.  Three  months  after  it  had  begun  it 
was  said  that  the  number  of  men  shifted  from  one  occupation  to 
another  deemed  to  be  more  essential  "  was  actually  smaller  than 
that  of  the  staff  employed  at  St.  Ermin's  Hotel  in  shifting 
them." 

Several  reasons  are  given  for  the  failure  of  the  plan  as  origi- 
nally constituted : 

1.  The  plan  duplicated  in  large  measure  the  work  of  the  employment  ex- 
changes instead  of  supplementing  it. 

2.  Men  were  enrolled  for  service  without  any  attempt  having  been  made 
to  ascertain  where  there  was  any  demand  for  their  services.  "  Seven-eighths 
of  the  volunteers  are  men  who  can  not  possibly  be  spared  from  their  present 
posts,  and  no  one  knows  how  to  extract  the  other  eighth  or  what  to  do  with 
it  when  it  is  extracted."  ^ 

According  to  the  original  plan  the  enrolment  of  volunteers  was  done  by 
the  national  service  department  and  the  men  were  to  be  placed  by  the  em- 
ployment exchanges. 

3.  Organized  labor  seems  to  have  regarded  the  scheme  as  a  thinly  veiled 
substitute  for  industrial  conscription  which  was  unpopular  with  the  trade 
unions  and  with  laborers  generally.  Men  who  were  wilHng  enough  to  be 
drawn  into  the  service  of  the  state  at  an  arbitrary  wage  and  for  dangerous 
duties  were  not  willing  to  have  even  a  mild  form  of  compulsion  applied  to 
service  for  a  capitalist  employer  working  for  profit. 

An  effort  was  made  to  amend  the  scheme  during  the  spring  of 
1917,  by  placing  the  responsibility  for  selecting  the  persons  to  be 
shifted  from  the  less  essential  to  the  more  essential  industries 
upon  joint  committees  of  employers  and  workers  in  each  organ- 
ized trade  and  upon  local  national  service  committees  selected 
to  deal  with  the  unorganized  trades  in  every  urban  area.  Those 
who  volunteered  under  this  scheme  were  to  be  called  "  substitu- 
tion "  volunteers.    They  were  to  be  allocated  to  their  work  by  the 

1  The  New  Statesman,  April  7,  1917,  p.  S. 


THE    SUPPLY   AND   DISTRIBUTION    OF    LABOR  133 

substitution  officers  of  the  national  service  department  and  not 
through  the  employment  exchanges.  The  terms  of  their  transfer 
were  made  more  attractive  than  they  had  previously  been,  as  will 
be  seen  from  the  following  statement : 

A  "  substitution "  volunteer  will  not  be  asked  to  leave  his  employment 
except  to  take  up  a  definite  job  on  work  of  national  importance  on  terms 
which  will  be  clearly  notified  to  him.  If  the  terms  are  clearly  acceptable  to 
him,  he  will  be  free  to  refuse  the  offer  without  going  before  any  appeal 
court.  He  will  either  take  the  place  of  a  man  of  military  age  and  fitness 
who  has  been  called  up  to  join  the  colors  or  he  will  reinforce  the  labor 
supply  in  industries  of  special  national  importance  for  war  purposes.  In 
either  case  he  will  have  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  he  is  engaged  in 
direct  war  work  as  truly  as  the  men  who  are  actually  with  the  colors.  The 
terms  of  employment  as  regards  wages  are  such  that  the  volunteer  is  not 
now  asked  to  make  any  pecuniary  sacrifice  by  transferring  his  services  from 
private  to  national  work.^ 

In  spite  of  these  modifications  in  the  national  service  scheme  it 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  immediately  practicable.  The 
select  committee  on  national  expenditure  appointed  by  order 
of  the  House  of  Commons  to  examine  into  current  expendi- 
tures and  see  what  if  any  economies  might  be  effected,  through  a 
subcommittee  reported  on  the  work  and  expenditures  of  the 
Ministry  of  National  Service  from  its  beginning  (end  of  Decem- 
ber, 1916,  to  August  8,  1917).  The  expenditures  up  to  that 
time  had  been  £223,720;  the  total  stafif  was  762  on  March  31  and 
491  on  August  9.  The  result  of  this  expenditure  had  been  that 
351,383  men  and  41,984  women  were  enrolled.  Employment 
for  19,951  men  had  been  found  as  national  service  volunteers. 
Of  these  8,747  were  placed  by  employment  exchanges;  9,187 
part  time  workers  (men)  had  also  been  found  work,  or  a  total 
of  29,768.  In  the  Women's  Section,  14,256  had  been  found 
employment,  or  a  total  of  44,024  men  and  women. 

The  committee  concludes  its  report  on  this  subject  with  this 
statement : 

We  are  of  opinion  that  the  results  obtained  were  not  commensurate  with 
the  preparations  made  and  the  heavy  preliminary  outlay  of  money.2 

» Labour  Gasette,  1917,  p.  161. 

2  Special  Report  and  Reports  from  the  Select  Committee  on  National 
Expenditure  together  with  the  Proceedings  of  the  Committee,  April  12. 


134:  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

The  New  Statesman  in  July  declared  that  national  service  was 
dead,  although  the  government  kept  up  the  pretense  that  it  was 
alive.  This  was,  to  say  the  least,  an  exaggeration.  The  plan  had 
up  to  that  time  proved  ineffective,  but  it  was  not  dead  and  later 
in  the  year  was  enlarged  and  wide  powers  given  to  its  director. 
In  the  meantime  the  way  for  a  more  successful  distribution  of  the 
man  power  of  the  country  had  been  paved  by  the  decision  of  the 
war  cabinet  to  call  into  military  or  naval  service  men  who  had 
been  employed  on  munitions  work  and  who  had  been  protected 
from  calls  for  enlistment  by  their  trade  cards  or  war  service 
badges. 

The  Protected  Occupations  List 

A  list  of  protected  occupations  was  issued  by  the  Ministry  of 
Munitions  which  went  into  effect  May  1,  1917.  Employers  were 
required  to  send  a  list  of  all  their  male  employes  who  were  over 
the  age  of  16,  together  with  the  total  of  women  and  boys 
employed,  to  the  munitions  area  dilution  officer  of  the  area  in 
which  the  establishment  was  situated.  They  were  to  mark  the 
names  of  these  men  for  whom  they  claimed  protection  under  the 
schedule.  The  actual  selection  of  the  men  who  were  to  be 
released  was  made  by  the  district  representatives  of  the  Admir- 
alty or  director  of  army  contracts.  Only  men  who  were  found 
"  indispensable  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  varying  programs  of 
ship  construction,  munitions  and  other  essential  government 
work  were  protected  from  recruiting  "  and  even  these  men  were 
protected  only  provisionally.  The  army's  need  might  again  be 
urgent  or  experience  might  show  that  operations  performed  by 
the  protected  men  could  be  undertaken  by  men  released  from  the 
army  or  by  women. 

All  exemptions  previously  granted  by  trade  cards  or  war  serv- 
ice badges  or  certificates  were  canceled  and  those  workmen  who 
were  protected  (temporarily)  from  recruiting  were  given  red 
cards  (army  form  W.  3476A),  while  those  who  were  engaged  on 
Admiralty,  War  Office  or  munitions  work  but  were  not  protected 
by  the  schedule  were  given  cards  printed  in  black  (army  form 
W.  3476B). 


THE   SUPPLY   AND  DISTRIBUTION    OF   LABOR  135 

Men  who  were  employed  on  Admiralty,  War  Office  or  muni- 
tions work  and  who  did  not  hold  red  or  black  cards,  but  claimed 
exemption,  might  present  their  claims  to  an  enlistment  claims 
committee  set  up  in  every  munitions  area  recruiting  office  and 
which  consisted  of  one  labor  representative  and  one  government 
representative.  A  central  committee  for  each  of  the  eight 
divisional  areas  passed  upon  claims  on  which  the  local  commit- 
tees were  unable  to  agree. 

Where  men  were  called  up  and  their  employer  considered  that 
substitutes  were  needed,  the  government  promised  that  efforts 
would  be  made  to  supply  them.  Employers  were  warned,  how- 
ever, that  "  the  need  of  the  army  for  men  is  too  urgent  to  admit 
of  the  release  of  men  being  delayed  in  every  case  until  substitutes 
have  been  provided  and  that  the  supply  of  male  substitutes  is 
likely  to  prove  unequal  to  the  demand."  ^  Employers  were  urged 
to  employ  women  wherever  possible,  even  if  they  had  to  be  trained 
for  the  work,  and  to  effect  a  transfer  or  rearrangement  of  labor 
within  their  works. 

National  Service  and  the  Employment  Exchanges 

It  was  in  connection  with  the  work  of  providing  substitutes 
that  the  National  Service  Department  was  connected  up  with  this 
scheme,  and  by  means  of  which  it  apparently  gained  a  new  lease 
of  life.  In  every  munitions  area  recruiting  office  an  area  employ- 
ment officer  representing  the  Ministry  of  Labor  and  an  area 
substitution  officer  representing  the  National  Service  Department 
were  located,  and  on  them  fell  the  responsibility  of  providing 
substitutes  where  required.  The  first  33  per  cent  of  the  total 
quota  of  men  from  each  district  required  for  military  service 
were  to  be  furnished  without  reference  to  the  provision  of  sub- 
stitutes. Thereafter  the  release  of  men  was  made  dependent 
upon  the  finding  of  substitutes  and  the  munitions  area  dilution 
officer  was  to  notify  the  munitions  area  recruiting  office  of  the 
men  made  available  for  military  service  by  the  provision  of 
substitutes. 

*  Letters  issued  by  Ministry  of  Munitions  (April  21,  1917),  British  Indus- 
tried  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  736. 


136  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

The  line  of  division  of  work  and  authority  between  the 
employment  exchanges  and  the  National  Service  Department  in 
the  efforts  to  supply  substitutes,  was  at  first  not  clearly  defined. 
Circular  R133  issued  June  8,  1917,  attempted  a  division  along 
the  following  lines : 


(a)  The  employment  exchanges  were  to  deal  with  war  munition  volunteers 
and  with  army  reserve  munition  workers  in  addition  to  their  ordinary  work 
of  placing  men  in  employment.  They  were  also  to  deal  with  persons  of  the 
professional  or  business  classes,  whether  enrolled  as  national  service  volun- 
teers or  not. 

(b)  The  national  service  department  was  to  place  the  national  service 
volunteers  and  the  substitution  volunteers. 


The  National  Service  Department  drew  up  a  list  of  certified 
occupations,  which  was  issued  as  Circular  R136  on  June  23,  1917, 
and  which  took  the  place  of  previous  lists  of  protected  occupa- 
tions. Inclusion  of  an  occupation  within  this  list  was  evidence  that 
the  government  departments  and  the  Army  Council  had  agreed 
that  the  work  was  of  national  importance,  and  that  men  employed 
or  engaged  in  these  occupations  were  entitled  to  exemption  from 
the  military  service  acts  when  individual  certificates  of  exemption 
had  been  issued  to  them  by  the  appropriate  tribunal.  Mere 
employment  at  an  occupation  included  in  this  list  did  not  auto- 
matically exempt  the  individual  workman.  It  was  distinctly 
stated  that  "  men  who  have  a  bad  record  for  absenting  themselves 
from  work  "  should  not  be  granted  exemption  and  exemption 
having  been  granted  should  not  continue  in  such  cases. 

New  National  Service  Plan 

The  division  and  distribution  of  powers  among  the  several 
authorities  concerned  with  recruiting  and  the  provision  of  sub- 
stitutes for  men  called  up  apparently  did  not  work  smoothly  for 
in  October,  1917,  it  was  decided  to  transfer  to  the  Director  Gen- 
eral of  National  Service  "  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Army 
Council  .    .    .  which  relate  to  recruiting,  the  calling  up  of  the 


THE   SUPPLY   AND  DISTRIBUTION   OF   LABOR  137 

reserve  forces,  exempting  from  service  or  otherwise  to  the  pro- 
vision of  men  to  the  army."  ^ 

Under  a  new  director  (Sir  Austin  Geddes)  the  National  Serv- 
ice Department  issued  an  outline  of  a  new  scheme  for  enrolling 
volunteers  for  work  of  national  importance.  Some  of  the  defects 
made  evident  by  the  early  experience  of  the  department  were 
remedied. 

(1)  Arrangements  were  made  to  determine  the  demand  for  labor  in 
undertakings  of  national  importance  accurately  and  regularly.  The  lists 
of  all  vacancies  to  be  filled  were  to  be  compiled  and  published  from  day 
to  day  in  each  locality. 

(2)  Men  required  to  fill  these  places  were  to  be  secured  from  less  essential 
industries.  Men  of  the  type  required  and  of  the  number  actually  wanted 
were  to  be  invited  to  enroll  as  war  work  volunteers. 

War  work  volunteers  were  asked  to  sign  an  enrolment  form  on  which 
they  agreed  to  undertake  work  of  national  importance  either  for  the  dura- 
tion of  a  particular  job  or  for  a  year.  The  enrolment  of  national  service 
volunteers  ceased  and  those  already  enrolled  who  had  not  been  transferred 
to  work  of  national  importance  were  released  from  their  obligations,  but  the 
hope  was  expressed  that  when  definite  vacancies  occurred  for  which  they 
possessed  the  necessary  qualifications,  they  would  then  enroll  as  war  worker 
volunteers. 

Those  national  service  volunteers  who  had  been  transferred  to  work  of 
national  importance  were  classed  and  described  as  war  worker  volunteers 
(special),  but  were  to  continue  under  the  terms  and  conditions  under  which 
they  were  transferred  until  the  expiration  of  their  jobs,  when  they  were 
invited  to  enroll  under  the  new  terms  when  vacancies  occurred  for  which 
they  possessed  the  necessary  qualifications. 

(3)  The  war  worker  volunteers  were  to  be  divided  into  three  categories : 

a.  War  worker  volunteers  (trade)  :  This  class  of  workers  was  to  be 
obtained  by  trade  committees  of  employers  and  workers  and  were 
to  be  placed  by  the  committees  in  vacancies  selected  by  them  from 
lists  supplied  to  them.  The  committees  were  to  utilize  the  employ- 
ment exchanges  for  transferring  the  men,  as  for  example  in  secur- 
ing railway  transportation. 

b.  War  worker  volunteers  (general)  :  Those  who  volunteer  for  a  year. 

c.  War  worker  volunteers  (special)  :  Those  who  volunteer  for  a  specific 

job. 

Classes  (b)  and  (c)  were  to  be  obtained  and  dealt  with  by  the 
employment  exchanges.    All  war  work  volunteers  were  to  receive 

1  Ministry  of  National  Service  Orders,  October  23  and  30.  British  Indus- 
trial Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  815. 


138  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

on  transfer  the  rate  of  wages  they  were  receiving  before  they  were 
transferred  or  the  time  rate  of  the  district  to  which  they  were 
transferred,  whichever  was  the  higher.  If  sent  away  from  their 
homes,  they  were  to  receive  railway  fares  and,  under  certain 
conditions,  the  usual  subsistence  allowances,  and  those  enrolling 
for  a  year's  service  might  receive  out  of  work  pay  or  a  guaranty 
of  employment  for  six  months/ 

In  the  fact  that  volunteers  are  enrolled  only  after  a  demand  for 
their  services  has  been  demonstrated  and  in  the  closer  coopera- 
tion with  the  employment  exchanges,  the  new  scheme  for  national 
service  is  undoubtedly  vastly  superior  to  the  old  one  of  register- 
ing a  miscellaneous  lot  of  volunteers  whose  qualifications  are  not 
easily  ascertainable  and  for  whom  there  may  be  no  demand.  The 
scheme  has  also  profited  by  the  larger  authority  given  to  the 
director  in  the  control  of  recruiting. 

Industrial  Conscription  a  Reality 

A  conclusion  to  which  one  arrives  from  a  study  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  government's  policy  of  exercising  control  over  the 
supply  and  distribution  of  labor  during  the  war  is  that,  despite  the 
objection  raised  to  conscription  of  labor  and  despite  the  caution 
imposed  upon  the  local  administrators  to  avoid  anything  in  the 
nature  of  compulsion  in  their  dealings  with  labor,  the  policy 
which  has  been  evolved  is  little  short  of  compulsion  for  men  of 
military  age. 

It  is  true  that  men  are  not  called  up  and  arbitrarily  assigned  to 
a  given  task  as  they  are  under  the  military  service  acts,  but  the 
fact  that  men  of  military  age  are  not  allowed  to  enter  many  oc- 
cupations except  with  the  consent  of  the  National  Service  Direc- 
tor means  that  they  are  limited  for  new  employment  to  the  war 
industries  or  to  those  of  national  importance.  Having  entered 
such  occupations  nominally  as  volunteers  they  are  subject  to  the 
terms  of  their  contract  with  the  government  for  the  period  stipu- 
lated. If  they  do  not  fulfil  their  contract  or  if  they  are  charge- 
able with  bad  time  keeping  they  are  liable  to  be  withdrawn  from 

^British  Industrial  Experience,  etc.,  vol.  1,  p.  817. 


THE   SUPPLY   AND   DISTRIBUTION   OF   LABOR  139 

industry  for  the  army,  at  any  time.  As  long  as  they  are  engaged 
in  one  of  the  certified  occupations  they  are  in  a  measure  protected 
from  the  recruiting  officer,  but  even  this  protection  does  not  avail 
when  the  need  of  men  for  military  service  grows  urgent  or  the 
dilution  officer  finds  satisfactory  substitutes  from  the  lists  of 
those  not  available  for  military  service.  The  demand  for  more 
men  in  the  army  has  become  more  urgent  with  every  passing 
month  and  the  industries  of  the  country  have  been  "  combed  " 
time  and  again.  The  success  of  the  policy  of  withdrawals  has 
been  dependent  upon  the  success  of  the  dilution  policy  to  be 
described  in  the  following  chapter. 

Doubtless  such  control  of  labor  as  is  being  exercised  under  the 
national  service  scheme  is  necessary  as  a  complement  to  the  mili- 
tary service  acts  and  because  of  the  imperative  need  of  men  by 
the  war  industries,  but  when  one  considers  the  length  to  which 
the  government  has  gone  in  its  restrictions  on  the  employment 
and  movement  of  labor,  he  is  led  to  wonder  whether  organized 
labor  has  in  reality  accomplished  much  by  its  apparently  success- 
ful resistance  to  the  industrial  conscription  of  labor. 


CHAPTER  VII 
The  Dilution  of  Labor 

By  the  middle  of  the  year  1915  it  had  been  generally  recognized 
that  neither  the  transference  of  workers  nor  overtime  work  would 
be  sufficient  to  secure  the  increased  production  required  by  war 
needs.  Employers  as  well  as  the  government  recognized  that 
some  reorganization  of  industries  must  be  effected  which  would 
permit  the  employment  of  a  larger  proportion  of  unskilled  work- 
ers. This  policy  of  introducing  a  larger  proportion  of  semi- 
skilled and  unskilled  workers  into  trades  which  had  hitherto  been 
regarded  as  suitable  only  for  highly  skilled  workers,  is  aptly  ex- 
pressed by  the  phrase  "  dilution  of  labor." 

As  early  as  March,  1915,  the  government  had  taken  steps  in 
the  direction  of  diluting  labor.  The  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer, Mr.  Lloyd  George,  in  opening  the  conference  of  gov- 
ernment officials  and  trade  union  representatives  which  led  to 
the  Treasury  agreement,  called  attention  to  the  great  need  of  an 
increased  supply  of  munitions  and  the  difficulty  of  bringing  it 
about  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  skilled  labor.  In  asking  the  trade 
unionists  to  suspend  their  rules  restricting  output  for  the  period 
of  the  war,  he  said  that  there  is  the  question  "  of  the  number  of 
machines  which  one  man  is  permitted  to  attend  to;  there  is  the 
question  of  the  employment  of  semi-skilled  labor,  where  under 
normal  conditions  you  could  not  assent  to  it;  and  there  is  the 
question  of  the  employment  of  female  labor.  In  France  there  is 
a  vast  amount  of  work  being  done  by  women  and  by  girls  in  the 
ammunitions  factories.  In  that  country  they  have  suspended 
all  these  rules  and  regulations  for  the  time  being,  because  they 
realize  that  the  security  of  their  country  depends  upon  it."  ^ 

1  Forty-seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Trade  Unions  Congress,  1915,  p. 
220  ff. 

140 


the  dilution  of  labor  14l 

Trade  Union  Opposition  to  Dilution 

Although  the  Treasury  agreement  provided  for  dilution  of 
labor,  in  accordance  with  the  proposals  of  the  Chancellor,  and 
although  the  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  was  intended  to  make 
possible  the  adoption  of  this  policy,  little  progress  in  the  way  of 
such  dilution  had  apparently  been  made  during  the  year  1915.  In 
spite  of  the  fact  that  their  leaders  had  signed  the  agreement  to 
permit  the  substitution  of  unskilled  male  labor  and  female  labor 
for  skilled  workers  in  munitions  plants,  the  rank  and  file  of  trade 
unionists  were  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  policy,  the  reasons 
for  and  the  necessity  of  which  they  did  not  fully  understand. 
In  order  to  make  clear  this  necessity,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  then 
Minister  of  Munitions,  attended  the  Trade  Unions  Congress  at 
Bristol,  in  September,  1915,  and  in  an  address  to  the  congress 
set  forth  the  reasons  which  had  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  policy 
and  explained  more  fully  the  methods  by  which  this  dilution  was 
to  be  brought  about. 

"  The  war,"  he  said,  "  has  resolved  itself  into  a  conflict  between 
the  mechanics  of  Germany  and  Austria  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
mechanics  of  Great  Britain  and  France  on  the  other,  .  .  .  This 
is  a  war  of  material.  Inadequate  material  means  defeat,  sufficient 
material  means  victory."  ^ 

Having  called  attention  to  the  increased  number  of  casualties 
which  occurred  as  a  result  of  the  shortage  of  munitions  and  hav- 
ing emphasized  the  necessity  of  having  the  factories  manu- 
facturing munitions  operating  continuously,  by  night  as  well  as 
by  day,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  went  on  to  say : 

The  first  fact  I  want  to  get  into  the  minds  of  trade  unionists  is  this — that 
if  you  employ  every  skilled  workman  in  the  kingdom  you  would  [sic]  not 
have  enough  labor  for  the  task  we  have  on  hand.  Therefore,  when  it  is  a 
question  of  our  diluting  skilled  labor  with  unskilled,  it  is  not  a  question  of 
turning  out  the  skilled  workman  in  order  to  put  a  cheaper  workman  in  his 
place.  We  have  plenty  of  work  for  the  skilled  workman,  we  have  not  enough 
skilled  workmen  to  go  around. 

The  second  point  I  want  to  put  is  this — there  is  a  good  deal  of  the  work 
which  is  being  done  by  skilled  workmen  now,  highly  skilled  workmen  who 

1  Report  of  Trade  Unions  Congress,  1915,  p.  353. 


142  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

have  years  of  training,  which  can  just  as  easily  be  done  by  those  who  have 
only  had  a  few  weeks'  or  a  few  days'  training.  We  want  to  turn  the  un- 
skilled on  to  work  which  unskilled  men  and  women  can  do  just  as  well  as 
the  highly  skilled  so  as  to  reserve  the  highly  skilled  for  work  that  nobody 
can  do  except  those  that  have  great  experience,  training  and  skill. 

Another  thing  wc  want  to  do  is  this — you  can  not  leave  the  unskilled  to  do 
the  work  alone  without  having  a  skilled  person  to  look  after  them.  For 
instance,  take  shell  making,  instead  of  putting  skilled  people  to  do  that  work, 
what  we  should  like  to  do  would  be  to  put  on,  say  ten  or  eleven,  unskilled 
men  or  women  to  one  skilled  man  to  look  after  them.  ,  .  This  is  work 
which  is  done  in  France  and  Germany  by  women.  It  is  done  in  parts  of 
this  country  by  women  also.  It  does  not  require  very  long  training.  A 
few  weeks  and  they  are  trained.  In  a  few  days  intelligent  men  and  women 
are  able  to  do  it.  It  is  a  waste  of  material,  of  which  we  have  got  far  too 
little,  to  turn  highly  skilled  men  on  to  do  work  of  this  kind  and,  therefore, 
we  have  got  to  make  arrangements  with  the  trade  unionists  by  which  they 
permit  us  to  mix  the  skilled  and  the  unskilled  so  as  to  let  the  skilled  go  as 
far  as  it  possibly  will,  and  unless  that  is  done  we  have  not  got  enough  labor 
to   go   around. 

Speaking  of  the  results  of  the  Treasury  agreement,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  said  that  although  the  state  had  kept  its  part  of  the  bar- 
gain by  the  passage  of  the  Munitions  Acts,  which  provided  for  a 
restoration  of  prewar  conditions  and  for  limitation  of  profits, 
the  unionists  in  many  cases  were  not  keeping  their  part  of  the 
contract.  The  parliamentary  committee  decided  to  investigate 
these  charges. 

Government  Assists  in  Dilution 

During  September,  1915,  the  Central  Munitions  Labor  Supply 
Committee,  upon  which  the  trade  unions  were  represented,  was 
appointed  to  advise  and  assist  the  Minister  of  Munitions  in  carry- 
ing out  its  dilution  policy.  A  circular  (No.  129)  was  dispatched 
to  owners  of  controlled  establishments  explaining  what  was 
meant  by  dilution  of  labor  and  instructing  them  to  introduce  it 
as  extensively  as  possible  and  without  delay.  Dilution  of  labor, 
as  explained  in  this  circular,  implies  that : 

(1)  The  employment  of  skilled  men  should  be  confined  to  work  which 
could  not  be  efficiently  performed  by  less  skilled  labor  or  by  women. 

(2)  Women  should  be  employed  as  far  as  practicable  on  all  classes  of 
work  for  which  they  are  suitable. 

(3)  Semi-skilled   and  unskilled   men   should   be   employed   on   any  work 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  143 

which  does  not  necessitate  the  employment  of  skilled  men  and   for  which 
women  are  unsuitable. 

In  order  to  assist  employers  in  carrying  out  the  policy  of  dilu- 
tion the  government  sent  special  representatives,  among  others 
the  factory  inspectors,  to  the  most  important  districts  in  which 
munitions  plants  were  located,  to  explain  the  methods  by  which 
dilution  could  be  brought  about.  As  the  result  of  conferences 
with  employers,  substitution  for  skilled  workers  proceeded  rapidly 
throughout  the  year  1916.  Agreements  were  entered  into  by 
employers  and  employes  not  only  in  the  munitions  industries  but 
in  cotton,  hosiery,  woolen  and  worsted,  silk,  felt  hat,  printing, 
bleaching  and  dyeing,  woodworking  and  furniture,  boot,  whole- 
sale clothing,  earthenware  and  china  manufactures,  which  pro- 
vided for  the  substitution  of  men  not  available  for  military 
service  and  women  for  men  of  military  age,  together  with  the 
agreement  that  at  the  close  of  the  war,  the  workers  dismissed 
for  military  service  were  to  be  reinstated  under  conditions  which 
prevailed  in  the  prewar  period. 

Scarcity  of  Male  Substitutes 

The  number  of  men  available  for  substitution  was  not  large. 
The  unskilled  male  labor  which  might  have  been  substituted  for 
skilled  labor  was  as  much  in  demand  for  military  purposes  as 
were  the  skilled  laborers.  Something  was  done  in  the  way  of 
substitution  by  the  introduction  of  men  over  military  age  and 
by  the  earlier  promotion  of  boys  serving  their  apprenticeship  to 
undertake  men's  work — the  place  of  these  boys  being  taken  in 
many  instances  by  women  or  girls.  However,  the  result  in  most 
instances  where  an  attempt  was  made  to  make  substitutions  was 
that  the  employers  had  to  fall  back  upon  female  labor  for  their 
supply  of  substitutes. 

There  are  no  figures  which  show  the  total  numbers  of  skilled 
and  of  unskilled  men  in  all  industries  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
Indeed  such  figures  would  be  hard  to  collect  since  the  line  of 
demarcation  between  skilled  and  unskilled,  in  most  trades,  is  very 
uncertain.     Some  indication  of  the  extent  of  this  mode  of  sub- 


144  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

stitution  is  afforded  by  the  figures  furnished  by  the  labor  ex- 
changes for  the  insured  trades  which  include,  it  will  be 
remembered,  among  others  engineering,  shipbuilding  and  works 
of  construction. 

In  1914  the  number  of  "  skilled  vacancies  "  filled  by  men  in  the 
insured  trades  registered  in  the  labor  exchanges  was  228,800. 
In  1915  it  had  fallen  to  223,800,  in  spite  of  the  war  demands, 
and  in  1916  there  was  a  further  decline  to  194,237.  The  number 
of  "  unskilled  vacancies  "  in  these  trades  filled  by  men  registered 
in  the  labor  exchanges  was,  in  1914,  182,824.  By  1915,  this 
number  had  risen  to  209,057  and  by  1916  to  210,680." 

A  slightly  better  showing  is  made  if  the  engineering  trades 
alone  are  considered,  but  it  is  at  once  obvious  that  the  enormous 
war  demand  for  labor  in  these  industries  was  to  be  met  in  only 
a  very  small  degree  by  the  use  of  unskilled  male  labor  to  take  the 
place  of  skilled  workers. 

Female  Labor  Available  Early  in  the  War 

Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  male  labor  of  all  sorts,  in  the  efforts 
to  find  substitutes  for  skilled  labor,  emphasis  was  of  necessity 
placed  upon  the  utilization  of  women  and  girls.  The  extent  of 
the  changes  which  took  place  during  the  first  year  of  the  war  in 
the  way  of  substituting  female  labor  for  male  labor  is  not  easy 
to  trace,  on  account  of  the  absence  of  official  statistics  and  the 
lack  of  government  participation  in  the  movement  to  effect  this 
substitution.  While  the  great  majority  of  these  women  laborers 
were  hired  by  private  employers,  independent  of  efforts  made 
by  the  labor  exchanges,  the  reports  of  these  exchanges  neverthe- 
less indicate,  probably  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy,  the  tend- 
ency to  exhaust  the  supply  of  male  labor  by  military  service  and 
the  extent  to  which  women  workers  have  supplied  the  lack  of 
men. 

The  number  of  men  and  women  remaining  on  the  registers  of 
the  exchanges  at  the  end  of  each  month  is  the  number  of  persons 

^  The  figures  for  1917  are  not  comparable,  for  they  include  additional 
"insured  trades." 


THE   DILUTION   OF   LABOR  145 

who  have  registered  for  employment  and  for  whom  places  have 
not  as  yet  been  found.  In  normal  years  the  numbers  remaining 
on  the  register  fluctuate  with  the  seasonal  changes  in  industry, 
being  highest  in  winter  and  lowest  in  midsummer. 

During  the  first  half  of  1914  the  figures  reflected  this  general 
movement,  the  number  of  men  on  the  registers  declining  from 
115,767  on  February  13  to  85,185  on  July  17,  while  the  number 
of  women  on  the  registers,  which  had  been  17,650  in  February, 
was  only  17,115  in  the  middle  of  July.^ 

The  disorganization  of  industry  which  followed  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  caused  a  rapid  increase  in  these  figures  so  that  on 
September  11,  when  unemployment  had  reached  its  maximum  for 
both  men  and  women,  the  numbers  remaining  on  the  registers 
were  148,391  men  and  37,599  women.  Thereafter,  the  figures 
at  six  months'  intervals  show  not  only  the  seasonal  fluctuations 
but  the  extent  to  which  the  decline  in  the  number  of  men  avail- 
able is  made  good  by  the  increase  in  the  number  of  women  seek- 
ing employment. 

Numbers  of  Men  and  Women  Remaining  on  the  Registers  of  the  Labor 
Exchanges  at  Selected  Periods,  1914-1917 

Period  Ending  Men  Women 

July  17,   1914   85,185  17,115 

January  15,  1915   6735  30,864 

July   16,   1915    40,539  46,623 

January  14,  1916 39,522  71,429 

July   14,   1916   33,315  78.641 

January    12,    1917    53,590  64,779 

July   13,   1917    32,364  64,152 

January  11,  1918   18,541  32,565 

July  12,  1918 30,661  53,949 

A  few  words  of  explanation  seem  necessary  to  interpret  these 
fluctuations.  After  the  brief  period  of  unemployment  in  the  late 
summer  of  1914,  the  decline  in  the  number  of  men  remaining  on 
the  registers  is  to  be  explained  not  only  by  the  number  of  enlist- 
ments, but  also  by  "  the  heavy  demand  for  labor  for  munitions 
work,  hut  building,  etc."  ^    The  increase  in  the  number  of  women, 

^Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  43. 
2  Ibid.,  1916,  p.  48. 


146  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

however,  does  not  admit  of  so  simple  an  explanation.  For  the 
latter  part  of  1914  and  for  some  months  in  1915  the  number  of 
women  remaining  on  the  registers  represents  a  demand  for  em- 
ployment which  met  with  no  adequate  response  on  the  part  of 
employers.  In  September,  1914,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  of 
women  in  strictly  industrial  occupations,  were  unemployed  com- 
pared with  the  numbers  in  industry  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.^ 

From  September  onwards  women  unskilled  and  industrially  ill  equipped, 
as  the  great  majority  of  them  were,  poured  into  those  trades,  leather, 
tailoring,  metal  trades,  chemicals  and  explosives,  food  trades,  hosiery  and 
the  woolen  and  worsted  industries,  which  had  been  suddenly  revived  by 
the  placing  of  large  orders  by  our  own  and  the  Allied  governments.  Be- 
tween September  and  December  over  130,000  women  were  drawn  into  the 
ranks  of  industry  proper,  but  still  80,000  unemployed  women  remained  in 
spite  of  the  net  shortage  of  men  which  amounted  to  about  a  quarter  of  a 
million.2 

The  contraction  of  women's  employment  had  not  disappeared 
in  February,  1915,  when  the  number  of  employed  women  in 
industries  was  still  1.5  per  cent  less  than  in  the  preceding  July.^ 
The  recovery  seems  to  have  been  most  marked  in  those  branches 
of  the  clothing  and  food  trades  on  which  the  government  was 
dependent  for  its  supplies,  such  as  military  clothing,  boots  and 
shoes,  canned  and  preserved  foods.  Unemployment  was  most 
marked  in  other  branches  of  the  clothing  trades  and  was  partly 
due  to  economies  being  practised  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  many 
men  were  going  into  khaki.  Women  were,  in  increasing  numbers, 
finding  their  way  into  the  metal  trades,  but  for  this  work  many 
of  the  unemployed  were  untrained  and  while,  in  some  cases,  em- 
ployers undertook  to  furnish  the  training  necessary,  "  in  most 
cases  time  was  too  short,  the  experiment  too  risky  and  the  pres- 
sure of  business  too  great,  for  employers  to  become  enthusiastic 
over  such  schemes."  *  Most  men  seem  to  have  believed  that  the 
war  would  be  of  short  duration  and  were  there f of e  reluctant  to 
undertake  important  readjustment  plans. 

1  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  Draft  Interim  Re- 
port of  the  Conference  to  investigate  into  outlets  for  labor  at  the  end  of  the 
war,  p.  4. 

2  Ihid.,  etc.,  p.  5. 

8  Kirkaldy,  Labour,  Finance  and  the  War,  p.  63. 
*  British  Association,  Draft  Interim  Report,  p.  5. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  '  147 

During  the  year  1915  and  the  first  half  of  1916  the  number 

of  men  available  for  industry  steadily  declined,  while  the  number 

of  women  offering  themselves  for  employment  steadily  increased. 

At  the  labor  exchanges  the  number  of  registrations  for  the  four 

years  was  as  follows : 

Men  Women 

1914 2,316,042  707,071 

191S 1,512,335  1,232,891 

1916 1,229,171  1,921,826 

1917 1,167,864  l,893,706i 

Women  in  Clerical  and  Commercial  Occupations 

Governmental  efforts  to  substitute  women  for  men  seem  to 
have  been  made  at  first  in  certain  occupations  in  which  women 
had  already  been  employed  and  had  demonstrated  their  abilities. 
A  Clerical  and  Commercial  Employment  Committee  was  ap- 
pointed early  in  1915  and  made  its  report  in  the  autumn  of  that 
year.^  The  committee  said  that  its  work  was  forced  upon  it  by 
a  realization  of  the  fact  that  "  a  very  large  number  of  men  of 
military  age  are  at  present  engaged  in  clerical  and  commercial 
occupations  and  the  certainty  that  most  of  these  men  will  offer 
themselves  for  service  with  His  Majesty's  forces."  This  raised 
the  question  of  finding  "  an  adequate  supply  of  competent  sub- 
stitutes." The  committee  said  that  there  were  about  300,000 
male  clerks  of  military  age  in  England  and  Wales  and  of  these 
about  one-half  would  be  available  for  military  service.  The 
classes  from  which  their  substitutes  could  be  drawn  were  as 
follows : 

(1)  Men  above  military  age  and  women  already  trained  in  clerical  work 
and  unemployed. 

(2)  Lads  under  military  age. 

(3)  Sailors  and  soldiers  previously  employed  in  these  occupations  who  are 
invalided  out  of  the  service. 

(4)  Women  without  clerical' experience  and  not  at  present  employed. 

At  the  time  the  committee  made  its  report,  it  was  believed  that 

the  first  class  had  been  so  heavily  drawn  upon  that  "  the  number 

now  remaining  is  very  small."    The  supply  of  lads  in  many  dis- 

1  Labour  Gasette,  1918,  p.  48. 
2Cd.  8110,  1915. 


148  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

tricts  was  small  and  their  utilization  had  the  disadvantage  from 
the  standpoint  of  employers  that  the  lads  were  rapidly  attaining 
military  age  and  might  be  lost  to  employers  at  just  the  time  when 
they  were  beginning  to  be  useful.  Soldiers  and  sailors  released 
from  the  service  were,  so  far,  few,  but  the  committee  urged  that 
the  authorities  take  steps  "  to  release  from  service  all  invalided 
men  as  soon  as  it  is  seen  that  there  is  no  reasonable  prospect 
that  they  will  be  able  to  serve  again  in  the  fighting  ranks." 

"  The  bulk  of  the  substitutes,"  said  the  report,  "must  be 
drawn  from  the  ranks  of  women  not  at  present  employed." 
Some  of  the  work  to  be  done  was  of  a  routine  and  mechanical 
character,  but  much  of  it  would  require  for  its  satisfactory  per- 
formance education  and  capacity  for  responsibility  and  the 
committee  believed  that  many  women  who  had  been  educated 
in  the  secondary  schools  and  universities,  or  who  had  had  other 
educational  advantages,  were  well  fitted  for  clerical  duties  and 
would  be  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  to  render  service  in  the 
national  interest.  The  large  business  organizations,  banks,  in- 
surance offices,  etc.,  were  already  recruiting  their  staffs  from  this 
class  of  workers.  Employers  were  urged  to  give  a  preference  to 
the  wives  and  families  of  men  on  their  staff  who  had  enlisted. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  many  women  already  enjoyed  educa- 
tional advantages  for  such  work,  the  committee  believed — and 
it  was  the  opinion  of  employers — that  some  training  was  desir- 
able and,  in  the  case  of  the  smaller  business  establishments  where 
the  work  was  of  a  less  routine  character,  it  was  essential. 

A  short  whole  time  training  lasting  from  one  to  two  months  would  go 
some  way  towards  familiarizing  women  with  business  routine,  and  enable 
them  to  adapt  themselves  more  readily  to  their  work  and  surroundings  on 
actually  entering  employment. 

To  give  this  training  and  to  study  local  needs  the  committee  pro- 
posed that  in  all  commercial  centers  . 

a  local  body  representative  of  higher  education  and  of  the  commerce  of  the 
district  should  be  formed  to  organize  the  supply  and  training  of  women  clerks. 

Steps  had  already  been  taken  to  accomplish  this  end  in  London, 
Manchester  and  other  places,  and  the  committee  had  sent  a 
letter  to  the  secondary  education  authorities  throughout  England 


THE   DILUTION    OF    LABOR  149 

and  Wales  to  urge  that  such  bodies  be  established  as  soon  as 
possible  and  that  they  undertake  the  following  tasks : 

(1)  To  ascertain  the  present  and  prospective  requirements  of  employers  in 
the  locality,  both  as  to  number  of  substitutes  and  kind  of  training. 

(2)  To  organize  emergency  classes  to  give  a  general  groundwork  in  com- 
mercial knowledge  and  office  routine,  bearing  in  mind  the  special  require- 
ments of  any  important  class  of  business  peculiar  to  the  locality. 

(3)  To  take  steps  to  attract  women  of  sufficient  education  to  this  class  of 
work. 

(4)  To  compile  a  register  of  those  who  pass  through  the  emergency 
classes  with  a  view  of  getting  them  placed  in  employment. 

The  committee  reported  that  it  had  also  addressed  a  circular 
to  a  number  of  commercial  and  professional  associations  asking 
them  to  call  the  attention  of  their  members  to  the  urgency  of 
reviewing  at  once  their  position,  in  order  that  their  businesses 
might  not  unduly  suffer  when  men  were  called  under  the  new 
recruiting  scheme.  Strong  representation  had  been  made  to  the 
committee,  however,  by  important  business  and  professional  con- 
cerns as  to  the  importance  of  retaining 

a  sufficient  nucleus  of  trained  men  to  carry  on  the  businesses  which  are 
essential  to  the  maintenance  of  national  commerce  and  finance. 

The  committee  stated  that  it  must  be  made  clear  that  the  em- 
ployment of  women  under  this  scheme  was  intended  to  be  only 
temporary  and  men  replaced  should  be  assured  that  their  posi- 
tions will  be  kept  open  for  them.  The  committee  also  suggested 
that  the  scale  of  wages  payable  to  women  should,  "  in  so  far  as 
conditions  permit,"  be  based  upon  the  rate  of  wages  paid  to  men 
for  similar  work.^ 

To  what  extent  the  increase  in  the  number  of  women  employed 
in  clerical  and  commercial  occupations  was  due  to  the  efforts  of 
the  government  and  to  what  extent  it  is  to  be  explained  by  the 
natural  preference  of  the  women  for  this  work  it  is  difficult  to 
say.  Certain  it  is  that  employers  themselves,  faced  with  the 
necessity  of  substituting  women  for  men,  preferred  to  begin  the 
substitution  at  this  point. 

The  conditions  which  explain  this  are  set  forth  by  the  report 

*  Report  of  committee  as  reviewed  in  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  395. 


150  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

of  the  Conference  Committee  of  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  as  follows : 

Clerical  work  is  obviously  suitable  for  women,  and  employers  have  had  far 
less  hesitation  in  introducing  a  greater  portion  of  female  labor  in  this  side 
of  their  business  than  in  the  industrial  side  proper.  The  conditions  of  the 
clerical  labor  market,  including,  as  it  does,  a  great  majority  of  clerical  work- 
ers who  belong  to  no  trade  organization,  have  made  it  easier  to  introduce 
female  labor  without  encountering  serious  opposition  from  the  trade  unions 
concerned,  than  in  those  trades  where  the  group  of  workers  is  smaller  and 
the  workers  are  more  highly  organized.  Enlistment  was  exceptionally  heavy, 
in  some  cases  over  30  per  cent,  among  men  such  as  clerks  whose  occupation 
is  sedentary,  and,  in  spite  of  the  restriction  of  business,  the  net  shortage  of 
men  was  soon  apparent,  and  women,  mostly  young  girls  from  school,  or  middle 
aged  women  from  professions  which  have  been  hit  by  the  war,  were  rapidly 
drawn  in  to  make  up  the  shortage.  Into  government  departments,  local  au- 
thorities, banks,  insurance  and  other  offices,  as  well  as  ordinary  business 
houses,  women  are  being  drawn  in  increasing  numbers  to  do  work  previously 
done  by  men.^ 

In  clerical  and  commercial  occupations,  although  women  were 
oftentimes  not  directly  substituted  for  men,  the  resemblance  be- 
tween the  work  done  by  the  two  sexes  was  closer  than  it  was 
in  most  industrial  occupations.  The  failure  to  make  direct  sub- 
stitutions seems  to  have  been  due  less  to  any  inferiority  in  ability 
than  it  was  to  lack  of  training,  although  to  a  certain  extent 
women's  lack  of  physical  strength  was  responsible  for  the  change 
in  organization.  Women  were  employed  more  largely,  during 
the  first  two  years  of  the  war  at  least,  on  the  more  mechanical 
side  of  the  clerical  work :  typing,  shorthand  writing,  copying  and 
filing.  It  is  even  said  that  the  women  preferred  the  routine 
occupations. 

Employers  who  were  interrogated  as  to  the  success  of  the 
women  workers  placed  a  lower  estimate  on  the  value  of  women 
as  clerks  than  on  that  of  men,  due  primarily  to  women's  lower 
physical  strength  and  inability  to  stand  overtime.  There  was  a 
general  opinion  that  on  routine  work  the  women  were  better 
workers  than  men  and  that  they  were  more  conscientious  and 
painstaking,  although  probably  less  accurate  on  the  whole. 

In  the  case  of  ticket  collecting  on  the  railroads,  where  at  first 

1  Draft  Interim  Report  of  the  Conference  to  investigate  into  outlets  for 
labor  after  the  war,  1915,  p.  9. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  151 

sight  men  and  women  appeared  to  be  doing  the  same  work,  it  was 
found  on  inquiry  that  the  women  were  working  shorter  hours  and 
were  employed  on  three  shifts,  whereas  the  men  were  employed 
on  two.  Furthermore,  the  shifts  of  the  women  were  arranged 
when  the  traffic  was  relatively  light.  In  many  of  the  large  stores 
it  is  said  that  three  women  were  required  to  do  the  work  formerly 
done  by  two  men.* 

Increased  Employment  of  Women  in  Industries  Already 
Employing  Women 

In  industrial  occupations  the  increased  employment  of  women 
took  place,  first  of  all,  in  those  lines  in  which  women  had  been 
employed  in  large  numbers  before  the  war.  The  report  of  the 
Chief  Inspector  of  Factories,  for  1914,  says  that — 

The  large  trades  concerning  women  in  most  of  which  there  has  been  an 
incessant  increasing  demand  for  their  labor  are:  woolen  and  worsted  textiles 
(khaki,  flannel,  blankets);  hosiery;  clothing  (military  tailoring  and  fur 
coat  making,  cap  making,  shirt  making)  ;  boots  and  shoes  and  other  leather 
articles;  ordnance  and  ammunition;  rations  and  Jam;  haversacks,  kitbags, 
holdalls,  bandoliers ;  surgical  dressings  and  bandages ;  tin  canisters  and  box 
making.  This  demand  has  been  limited  only  by  difficulties  in  (a)  absorbing 
undue  proportions  of  unskilled  workers  at  a  time  when  available  skill  was 
more  needed  for  production  than  usual;  (b)  shortage  of  machines  and  of 
machine  parts,  e.g.,  hosiery  needles;  (c)  shortage  of  raw  material,  e.g.,  dyes 
and  yarn,  wool  at  times  in  woolen  weaving  mills,  khaki  cloth  in  military 
tailoring.2 

The  increased  employment  of  women  in  these  trades  did  not 
result  in  the  replacement  of  men  to  such  an  extent  as  the  figures 
would  seem  to  indicate.  This  was  largely  because  the  increased 
need  of  war  supplies  was  felt  not  only  in  the  trades  in  which 
women  had  hitherto  been  largely  employed,  but  in  the  very 
branches  of  those  trades  in  which  women  were  normally  em- 
ployed under  peace  conditions.  Thus  in  the  tailoring  trade, 
which  in  peace  times  normally  employed  about  130,000  women, 
there  was  a  decline  in  the  demand  for  high  grade  tailoring  work 
in  which  men  were  largely  employed,  whereas  the  increased 
demand  for  military  clothing  took  place  in  the  medium  branches 
of  the  trade  in  which  female  labor  normally  predominates. 

1  Draft  Interim  Report,  p.  9. 

2  Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  and  Workshops,  1914, 
p.  34. 


152  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

This  part  of  the  trade  has  drawn  women  and  girls  from  its  other  branches 
and  from  its  fringe  of  casual  labor,  as  well  as  from  other  trades  in  which 
there  was  a  surplus  of  female  labor. 

It  thus  shows  a  great  increase  of  female  labor  since  the  war  which  has 
been  drawn  in,  not  to  undertake  work  previously  done  by  men  but  merely 
to  cope  with  a  huge  increase  of  orders  in  that  branch  of  the  trade  in  which 
a  larger  proportion  of  women  than  men  is  normally  employed.  Again,  the 
cloth  from  which  the  uniform  is  made  is  not  the  very  finest  suiting  and  the 
huge  demands  upon  the  wool  and  worsted  trade  for  it  have  resulted,  as  in 
the  tailoring  trade,  in  a  larger  demand  for  female  labor  compared  with  the 
demand  for  male  labor  than  the  trade  as  a  whole  would  normally  employ. 
The  great  increase  of  women's  employment  since  the  war  in  the  leather  trade 
has  to  a  certain  extent  been  in  the  lighter  accoutrement  branches  on  proc- 
esses normally  done  by  women,  while  in  the  boot  and  shoe  branch  there  has 
actually  been  a  replacement  of  women  by  men,  owing  to  the  heavier  nature  of 
the  work  required  in  the  military  than  in  the  civilian  boot.i 


Women  in  the  Munitions  Trades 

The  second  stage  in  the  employment  of  women  was  reached 
when  they  began  to  be  employed  directly  in  the  manufacture  of 
munitions.  In  some  establishments  this  was  reached  even  during 
the  first  year  of  the  war,  but  the  great  increase  in  the  employ- 
ment of  women  came  after  the  middle  of  1915  and  was  directly 
due  to  government  efforts  following  the  agreement  with  the  trade 
unions  already  referred  to. 

The  report  of  the  Chief  Factory  Inspector  for  1914  says  that 
in  ordnance  and  munitions  works  large  numbers  of  girls  and 
women  have  been  employed  who  had  previously  never  worked 
in  a  factory  or  workshop  ^  and  the  committee  of  the  British 
Association,  in  its  first  report  made  in  August,  1915,  says  that 
many  thousands  of  women  had  been  pouring  into  the  armament 
branches  of  the  metal  and  engineering  trades  since  February  of 
that  year.  Up  to  February  the  metal  trades  as  a  whole  had 
shown  a  contraction  in  the  employment  of  women  amounting 
to  over  1,200.  By  July  of  that  year,  according  to  Mr.  Lloyd 
George,  50,000  women  were  engaged  in  munitions  branches  of 
the  metal  trades  and  this  number  was  between  one-tenth  and 
one-fifth  the  number  employed  in  France. 

1  British  Association  Draft  Interim  Report,  p.  8. 
'Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  Inspector,  1914,  p.  33. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  153 

The  number  of  women  employed  in  munitions  work  increased 
rapidly  after  the  creation  of  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  and  the 
establishment  of  new  government  factories.  Women  were  for 
the  most  part  engaged  during  "  the  early  stages  of  their  employ- 
ment on  repetition  work  and  automatic  machinery  involving  little 
or  no  departure  from  the  work  to  which  they  are  ordinarily 
accustomed — their  work  is  mainly  in  the  filling,  capping  and 
cleaning  of  shells,  boring  and  drilling  bombs,  fuses  of  all  kinds, 
English  and  French,  and  cartridge  cases."  ^  In  the  shell  fac- 
tories, however,  even  as  early  as  August,  1915,  women  were  in 
some  cases  executing  the  entire  process  of  shell  making  from 
start  to  finish,  involving  twenty-one  operations  in  the  case  of 
eighteen-inch  highly  explosive  shells  and  Russian  three-inch 
shrapnel. 

Although  most  of  the  women  were  employed  on  repetition 
work,  the  possibility  of  their  undertaking  work  of  a  higher 
order  had  already  been  demonstrated.  A  quotation  from  The 
Engineer  of  August  20,  1915,  shows  that  women  had  thus  early 
undertaken  work  requiring  a  high  degree  of  excellence.  This 
must  be  regarded,  however,  as  an  exception,  for  all  reports  seem 
to  agree  that  women  were  mainly  employed  at  the  simpler  tasks, 
especially  during  the  first  eighteen  months  of  the  war.  Where 
a  shortage  of  men  required  substitution  it  was  found  that  boys 
who  had  already  received  some  training  were  best  adapted  to 
undertake  the  men's  work  and  women  and  girls  were  then  em- 
ployed to  do  work  which  had  been  done  by  the  boys.  Experience 
brought  out  the  fact  that  where  a  very  high  degree  of  accuracy 
was  demanded  girls  could  at  times  be  employed  to  do  such  work 
as  limit  gauging  and  would  perform  the  work  better  than  the 
men  or  boys.  This,  it  was  said,  was  "  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  it  is  purely  a  mechanical  operation  and  requires  no  judg- 
ment, whereas  men  will  frequently  use  judgment  in  testing  a 
piece  of  work  which  is  inaccurate  to  some  trifling  degree." 

The  inability  of  women  to  take  up  the  work  of  skilled  men 
during  the  first  year  of  the  war  seems  to  have  been  mainly  due. 


1  Draft  Interim  Report,  p.  47. 


154  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

not  to  unwillingness  on  their  part  to  undertake  such  work,  but 
to  lack  of  training  and  experience.  At  this  time  there  was  no 
lack  of  semi-skilled  and  unskilled  labor,  either  male  or  female, 
but  the  absence  of  skilled  workers  created  what  seemed  to  be  "  an 
almost  insuperable  obstacle  "  to  the  employment  of  the  willing 
but  unskilled  female  labor.  The  British  Association  Report, 
made  in  1915,  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  problem  was  not 
likely  to  be  solved  during  the  time  of  war.  It  was  said  that 
women  were  in  many  industries  working  on  processes  which 
had  previously  been  done  only  by  men,  but  that  "  the  extent  to 
which  this  has  occurred  is  inconsiderable."  ^ 

Industrial  Training  for  Women 

Up  to  this  time  about  the  only  experiments  in  training  of 
women  for  industry  had  been  those  made  by  the  Central  Com- 
mittee on  Women's  Employment.  Little  work  of  a  practical 
nature  had  been  accomplished,  for  the  suggestions  made  by  the 
committee  had  to  do  with  the  making  of  toys,  artificial  flowers, 
baskets,  hair  nets,  surgical  bandages  and  work  of  a  decorative  or 
ornamental  character.  There  was  no  opportunity  in  these  trades 
to  displace  men  by  women  and  the  suggestion  seems  to  have  been 
due  to  a  belief  that  in  order  to  relieve  unemployment  among 
women  it  was  necessary  to  discover  new  occupations  for  them. 

The  British  Association  report  for  the  year  1915  embodied  a 
scheme  for  training  women,  as  well  as  boys,  in  trades  in  which 
men  had  hitherto  been  employed.  It  called  for  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  technical  and  trade  schools  which  should  work 
in  close  cooperation  with  the  trades  concerned  and  advocated 
a  development  of  "  part  time  "  continuation  schools,  in  place  of 
evening  instruction  at  the  end  of  a  day's  work,  and  advocated 
workshop  training,  systematized  and  reduced  to  the  shortest 
period  compatible  with  efficiency.  The  opinion  was  expressed 
that,  especially  in  the  metal  working  trades,  women  could  be 
successfully  trained  to  undertake  skilled  work.  Experiments 
made  in  some  engineering  shops  had  shown  that  women,  within 

1  Draft  Interim  Report,  p.  7. 


THE   DILUTION    OF    LABOR  155 

a  few  days,  were  able  to  turn  out  accurate  work  and  that  they 
possessed  initiative  as  well  as  manipulative  dexterity. 

Doubtless  the  government  was  more  or  less  influenced  by  these 
suggestions  when  in  July,  1915,  steps  were  taken  in  conjunction 
with  the  Board  of  Education  to  organize  training  classes  for 
men  and  women  who  were  willing  to  become  munition  workers. 
Close  cooperation  between  the  factories  and  the  schools  was  se- 
cured so  that  students  might,  so  far  as  possible,  be  taught  in  the 
schools  to  use  precisely  similar  machines  to  those  which  were  in 
operation  in  the  factories.  Over  25,000  persons  were  trained  in 
these  schools  during  the  years  1915  and  1916  and  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  students  were  women. 

It  was  not  intended  to  give  a  complete  technical  training;  in 
fact  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  stipulated  that  the  course  should 
provide  not  less  than  thirty  nor  more  than  one  hundred  hours 
instruction.  It  was  suggested  that,  so  far  as  possible,  learners 
should  be  men  or  women  who  had  secondary  education  or  who 
had  been  skilled  in  other  trades.  Preference  was  to  be  given  to 
those  who  were  willing  to  leave  the  town  where  they  lived  and 
go  where  there  was  demand  for  their  labor.  No  fee  was  charged 
for  the  course,  but  each  learner  was  required  to  give  a  written 
undertaking  that  he  would  work  whole  time  in  a  munitions 
factory  on  the  completion  of  his  course  and,  if  he  failed  to  do 
this,  the  cost  of  his  training  was  to  be  recoverable  from  the 
worker.  No  male  student  was  to  be  accepted  who  was  of 
military  age. 

It  is  at  once  obvious  that  such  a  brief  training  would  suffice 
only  for  the  semi-skilled  work  in  the  munitions  factories.  It  was 
on  such  work,  we  have  observed,  that  women  were  chiefly  em- 
ployed during  the  first  two  years  of  the  war  and  their  employ- 
ment was  facilitated  by  the  introduction  of  machinery  which 
could  be  used  in  the  turning  out  of  standardized  products.  Stan- 
dardization itself  was  made  practicable  by  the  enormous  output 
of  the  munitions  factories.^ 

1  How  far  the  great  use  of  woman's  labor  has  been  dependent  on  standard- 
ization and  specialization  is  illustrated  by  the  following  statement  from  the 
Dilution  of  Labour  Bulletin  of  March,  1918,  p.  85: 

"  In  order  to  render  the  bulk  of  the  women's  work  productive  rapidly,  it 


156  british  labor  conditions  and  legislation 

Women  Employed  on  Skilled  Work 

The  third  stage  in  the  employment  of  women  was  reached 
when  they  began  to  replace  men  in  the  performance  of  skilled 
work.  In  some  munitions  establishments  this  took  place  as  early 
as  1915  when  the  British  Association  report  showed  that  women 
"  are  slowly  undertaking  processes  in  many  trades  which  were 
previously  thought  just  above  the  line  of  their  strength  and 
skill."  Examples  of  such  employment  were  chiefly  in  the 
leather,  engineering  and  the  wool  and  worsted  trades,  as  well 
as  in  certain  trades  which  had  been  depressed  since  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  as  the  cotton,  pottery  and  printing  trades.^ 

While  the  use  of  women  to  perform  skilled  work  was  the 
exception  this  early  in  the  war,  experience  in  those  few  estab- 
lishments in  which  employers  had  been  willing  to  make  experi- 
ments in  the  use  of  women  had  shown  that  it  was  not  lack  of 
ability  but  lack  of  training  and  opportunity  which  was  holding 
women  back  from  the  skilled  branches  of  these  trades.  Trade 
union  opposition  and  the  prejudice  of  employers  were  also 
responsible  for  the  failure  of  women  to  do  other  than  mechani- 
cal and  routine  work. 

As  early  as  August,  1915,  it  was  said  that  in  a  factory  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  projectiles  in  sizes  up  to  those  required 
for  4.5  inch  guns,  women,  working  under  the  direction  and  super- 
vision of  a  few  expert  men,  were  able  to  do  "  good  work  turned 
out  accurately  to  gauge,  much  of  the  work  demanding  intelli- 


was  no  good  attempting  to  teach  a  woman  a  trade  but  only  that  part  of  it 
which  she  was  going  to  be  employed  on — in  fact  to  specialize. 

"  This  specialization  was  made  possible  in  the  branches  of  employment 
new  to  women  by  the  war  itself. 

"  It  is  probable  that  since  this  war  began  more  fuses  and  shells  have  been 
turned  out  of  the  engineering  workshop,  all  practically  to  one  pattern,  than 
of  any  other  complex  appliances  since  engineering  workshops  began  to  exist. 
Their  numbers,  indeed,  are  comparable  with  those  of  typical  repetition  parts 
such  as  bolts,  nuts,  split  pins,  screws,  etc.  For  the  bulk  of,  the  available 
unskilled  labor,  therefore,  every  sort  of  stop,  jig  and  appliance  must  be 
introduced — the  job  had,  in  short  to  be  made  fool  proof.  If  there  was  a 
right  and  a  wrong  way  of  using  these  appliances  as  first  made,  that  had  to 
be  altered  until  there  was  onlv  one  way  of  using  them,  and  that  the  right  one." 

1  Draft  Interim  Report,  1915,  p.  9. 


THE   DILUTION   OF   LABOR  157 

gence  of  a  high  degree  and  involving  intricate  operations."  ^ 
The  British  Association  report  indicated  at  this  time  that  it  was 
only  the  prejudice  of  employers  and  the  selfishness  of  the  trade 
unions  which  were  standing  in  the  way  of  serious  attempts  to 
substitute  women  for  men  on  skilled  work.^  Women  were  said 
to  be  particularly  suitable  to  perform  the  delicate  work  necessary 
for  time  fuses,  and  even  the  more  arduous  work  of  forging  and 
of  handling  machine  tools  had  been  successfully  performed  by 
them.^ 

The  longer  the  war  continued  the  less  serious  became  the 
opposition  to  the  introduction  of  women  on  skilled  work.  The 
prejudice  of  employers  was  broken  down  when  one  task  after 
another  was  taken  over  by  women  and  successfully  performed  by 
them.  Only  two  things,  it  was  seen,  stood  in  the  way  of  the 
substitution  of  women  to  do  men's  work  in  the  manufacture  of 
munitions.  One  was  the  lack  of  training  necessary  to  enable 
any  one  to  perform  the  most  skilled  operations  and  this  was 
being  gradually  overcome  by  experience  and  by  using  the  skilled 
male  laborers  as  instructors.  The  other  obstacle  was  women's 
lack  of  physical  strength  to  perform  the  heavier  tasks  and,  in 
part,  this  situation  was  remedied  by  a  more  careful  classification 
of  work  so  as  to  subdivide  the  processes  and  grade  the  labor 
accordingly.  Mechanical  devices  for  lifting,  etc.,  were  also 
introduced  wherever  practicable.* 

The  women  who  have  performed  this  skilled  work  have  been 
secured,  for  the  most  part,  from  the  ranks  of  those  who  have 
passed  through  the  training  schools.  The  more  promising  ones 
in  these  schools  have  been  given  further  training  and  have  thus 
been  fitted  for  the  more  skilled  tasks.  An  especial  efi^ort  has  been 
made,  however,  to  train  for  this  work  disabled  soldiers  who  have 
had  some  previous  mechanical  experience. 

The  training  given  to  the  women  in  the  technical  schools  and 
by  the  firms  which  employ  them  is  intended  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  situation  in  the  smallest  possible  time.    The  short  period  of 

1  The  Engineer  quoted  in  Draft  Interim  Report,  p.  12. 

2  Draft  Interim  Report,  p.  12. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  46. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  10. 


158  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

training  intended  to  fit  a  woman  for  shell  making  does  not,  of 
course,  suffice  when  she  is  intended  for  general  engineering  work. 
But  the  purpose  of  even  the  longer  training  is  not  to  turn  out  all 
around  skill.  On  the  contrary,  women  are  trained  to  one  type 
of  machine,  which  they  are  taught  to  set  up  accurately  as  well  as 
work.  Generally  about  six  weeks  instruction  is  necessary  for 
this  kind  of  work. 

Women  with  a  good  general  education  are  mostly  in  demand 
and  profit  most  by  this  system  of  education.  Several  of  the 
schools  allow  from  15s.  to  25s,  per  week  to  each  woman  who 
takes  the  training  course.  The  Ministry  of  Munitions,  in  order 
to  help  firms  who  desire  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  their  women 
workers,  lends  the  services  of  demonstrator-operatives,  women 
who  are  experienced  in  such  work  as  machine  operating,  turning, 
drilling,  tool  setting,  bench  fitting,  oxyacetylene  welding,  etc. 
These  women  are  sent  to  a  factory  to  demonstrate  to  the  women 
what  can  be  done.  The  Ministry  is  also  ready  to  supply  a 
nucleus  of  women  workers  to  any  firm  which  has  difficulty  in 
starting  women  in  a  new  shop  or  new  type  of  work.  This 
nucleus  of  trained  workers  remains  permanently  in  the  employ- 
ment of  the  firm.^ 

The  experiments  made  during  the  year  1915  to  utilize  women 
to  do  work  which  hitherto  had  been  done  by  men  did  little  more 
than  show  the  possibilities  of  such  substitution.  The  continued 
withdrawal  of  men  for  military  service  and  the  need  of  larger 
and  larger  quantities  of  munitions  soon  left  no  other  alternative 
than  to  make  the  fullest  possible  use  of  women  in  the  manu- 
facturing establishments. 

Government  Urges  Further  Dilution 

Following  the  appeal  made  by  the  Minister  of  Munitions  to 
the  trade  unionists  to  permit  dilution,  the  Home  Secretary  and 
the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  early  in  1916  called  the 
attention  of  employers  in  the  manufacturing  industries  to  the 
situation  created  by  the  continual  withdrawal  of  male  labor  for 

1  Kirkaldy,  Industry  and  Finance,  pp.  68-72. 


THE   DILUTION    OF    LABOR  159 

military  purposes  and  to  the  need  of  concerted  action  in  order 
to  maintain  "  in  the  fullest  vigor  the  manufacturing  industries 
which  are  necessary  to  the  provision  of  government  supplies,  the 
support  of  the  population  and  our  export  trade."  The  appeal 
went  on  to  say: 

There  is  one  source,  and  one  only,  from  which  the  shortage  can  be  made 
good — that  is,  the  great  body  of  women  who  are  at  present  unoccupied  or 
engaged  only  in  work  not  of  an  essential  character.  Many  of  these  women 
have  worked  in  factories  and  have  already  had  an  industrial  training — they 
form  an  asset  of  immense  importance  to  the  country  at  the  present  time, 
and  every  effort  must  be  made  to  induce  those  who  are  able  to  come  to  the 
assistance  of  the  country  in  this  crisis.  Previous  training,  however,  is  not 
essential ;  since  the  outbreak  of  war  women  have  given  ample  proof  of  their 
ability  to  fill  up  the  gaps  in  the  ranks  of  industry  and  to  undertake  work 
hitherto  regarded  as  men's. 

We  appeal,  therefore,  on  behalf  of  the  government  to  every  employer  who 
is  finding  his  business  threatened  with  diminished  productivity  through  the 
loss  of  men,  not  to  accept  such  diminution  as  an  inevitable  consequence  of 
the  war,  but  to  make  every  possible  effort  to  maintain  his  production  by  using 
women,  whether  in  direct  substitution  for  the  men  who  have  been  withdrawn 
or  by  some  subdivision  or  rearrangement  of  his  work.^ 

The  government  promised  to  give  every  assistance  possible  in 
bringing  about  this  dilution,  but  emphasized  the  importance  of 
the  employer  taking  the  initiative  in  reviewing  the  organization 
of  his  works  in  order  "  to  ascertain  how  it  is  possible  by  re- 
arrangement of  work  and  other  measures  profitably  to  employ, 
as  temporary  substitutes,  as  large  a  number  of  women  workers 
as  possible."  It  was  admitted  that  the  employer  would  have 
some  difficulties  in  arranging  for  conditions  of  work  suitable 
to  women  or  complying  with  the  requirements  of  the  Factory 
Acts,  but  it  was  asserted  that  in  many  industries  these  difficulties 
had  been  overcome  as  a  result  of  discussion  between  employers 
and  the  factory  inspectors.  Employers  were  urged  to  make  their 
wants  for  women  labor  known  through  the  local  labor  exchanges 
and  to  give  the  fullest  possible  details  as  to  the  classes  of  work 
and  the  qualifications  required. 

Governmental  assistance  in  bringing  about  dilution  came  from 
several  sources: 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1916,  p.  83. 


160  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

(si)  The  factory  inspectors,  as  already  mentioned,  held  con- 
ferences with  employers  in  nonmunitions  as  well  as  in 
munitions  industries  to  further  the  introduction  of 
women  to  perform  work  formerly  reserved  for  men/ 

(2)  After  the  creation  of  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  in  June, 
1915,  a  labor  supply  department  was  created  whose  func- 
tions were  to  supply  labor  of  the  character  and  amount 
required  wherever  needed  and  to  carry  out  the  policy  of 
dilution.  For  the  purpose  of  organizing  the  manufacture 
of  munitions  nearly  the  whole  of  Great  Britain  had  been 
divided  into  forty-three  districts  and  in  August,  1915, 
the  Minister  of  Munitions  appointed  three  commissioners 
in  each  district  to  promote  dilution.  It  was  the  business 
of  these  officials  to  proceed  from  establishment  to  estab- 
lishment within  their  respective  districts  to  discover  the 
employer's  need  for  labor  and  to  work  out  with  him  a 
plan  whereby  unskilled  labor  and  especially  women  could 
be  utilized  in  place  of  or  to  supplement  skilled  men. 

(3)  To  assist  employers  in  determining  where  women  could 
be  used  to  advantage,  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  issued  in 
the  early  part  of  1916  a  book  entitled  Notes  on  the  Em- 
ployment of  Women  on  Munitions  of  War,  with  an 
Appendix  on  the  Training  of  Munition  Workers.  This 
book  was  filled  with  a  description  of  processes  on  which 
women  had  been  employed  together  with  pictures  of 
women  performing  these  processes.  Employers  were 
urged  to  make  inquiries  from  time  to  time  of  the  labor 
officers  in  their  districts  as  to  new  processes  on  which 
it  had  been  found  that  women  could  be  successfully 
employed. 

Numbers  and  Proportion  of  Women  Employed  in  Muni- 
tions Work 

By  these  means  and  others  dilution  proceeded  so  successfully 
that  in  February,  1917,  in  the  various  government  establishments 

1  Report  of   Chief   Inspector  of   Factories  and   Workshops,   1915,   p.   13 ; 
1916,  p.  3. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  161 

the  following  were  the  number  and  proportion  of  females  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture  of  munitions. 

Total  Number  Percentage  of 

Group                                               of  Female 

Employes  Employes 

National  shell  factories   18,500  62 

National  proj  ectile   factories    52,000  46 

National  filling  factories   77,000  79 

National    factories    (high    explosives   and   propel- 

lants)    23,000  48 

Other  government  factories   (miscellaneous  muni- 

nitions)     2,500  40 

In  addition  to  these  government  owned  establishments  there 
were  on  January  30,  1917,  4,285  "  controlled  establishments," 
3,934  of  which  reported  in  February  that  they  were  employing 
1,752,381  persons,  of  whom  21  per  cent  were  females  and  over 
11  per  cent  were  boys  under  18  years  of  age.' 

The  proportion  of  women  employed  in  these  various  munitions 
establishments  has  greatly  increased  within  the  last  year  although 
no  later  figures  are  available  which  are  comparable  with  those 
just  given.  The  Labour  Gazette  in  reviewing  the  extension  of 
employment  of  women  during  the  first  three  years  of  the  war 
reported  that  while  "  the  number  of  women  engaged  in  making 
munitions  can  not  be  stated  exactly,  it  is  believed  that  about 
670,000  are  employed  on  munition  work,  whilst  632,000  are 
engaged  in  other  government  work  such  as  the  manufacture  of 
clothing  and  food  for  the  troops."  ^ 

The  number  of  women  employed  in  the  metal  and  chemical 
trades  grew  from  210,000  in  July,  1914,  to  616,000  in  July, 
1917,  and  while  not  all  of  these  women  were  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  munitions,  the  majority  were  so  employed. 
Furthermore,  these  figures  did  not  include  government  owned 
establishments,  where  204,000  women  were  employed  in  July, 
1917,  as  compared  to  2,000  three  years  before.' 

1  Memorandum   (manuscript)  on  the  organization  and  work  of  the  Minis- 
try of  Munitions  of  War,  April  19.  1917. 

2  Labour  Gazette.  1917.  p.  395.     By  October.  1917.  these  figures  had  been 
raised  to  700,000  and  650,000  respectively  {Labour  Gazette.  1918,  p.  49). 


162  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

Mr.  H.  \V.  Garrod  of  the  Special  Mission  from  the  British 
Ministry  of  Munitions  to  the  United  States  in  November,  1917, 
reported  that  80  per  cent  of  the  munitions  work  was  at  that 
time  being  carried  on  by  women. ^  Since  March  31,  1917,  all 
contracts  for  shells  have  been  let  on  the  condition  that  80  per 
cent  of  the  employes  must  be  women  when  work  on  shells  from 
two  and  three-quarters  to  four  and  one-half  inches  is  being 
performed,  and  on  larger  shells  the  instructions  of  the  Labor 
Supply  Department  as  to  the  proportion  of  women  and  semi- 
skilled male  labor  must  be  followed.^  In  April,  1918,  Mr. 
Winston  Churchill  said  that  750,000  women  were  employed  in 
the  British  munitions  factories  and  that  90  per  cent  of  the  work 
was  performed  by  them. 


Employment  of  Women  in  Nonmunitions  Work 

During  the  first  two  years  of  the  war,  government  efforts  to 
dilute  labor  were  mainly  limited  to  the  munition  industries, 
although  by  March,  1916,  as  we  have  observed,  an  appeal  was 
issued  to  manufacturers  by  the  Home  Secretary  and  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trade  to  take  concerted  action  in  the  way  of 
hiring  "  women  unoccupied  or  engaged  only  in  work  not  of  an 
essential  character"  to  make  good  "the  loss  of  labor  caused 
by  withdrawal  of  men  for  the  forces."  ^ 

The  Treasury  agreement  with  the  trade  unions  made  in  March, 
1915,  provided  for  dilution  of  labor  in  connection  with  pro- 
duction for  war  purposes  only,  and  the  sections  of  the  Munitions 
Acts  of  1915  and  1916  which  deal  with  dilution  likewise  relate 
only  to  the  manufacture  of  munitions,  though,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  term  munitions  was  given  a  very  broad  interpretation  by 
the  appeal  tribunals.  Such  increase  in  the  employment  of 
women  as  took  place  in  other  than  the  munitions  industries 
during  the  first  two  years  of  the  war  was  made  with  govern- 

^  Andrews  and  Hobbs :  Economic  Effects  of  the  War  upon  Women  and 
Children  in  Great  Britain,  p.  38.  (Preliminary  Economic  Studies  of  the  War 
issued  by  Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace,  1918.) 

2  Ibid.,  p.  54. 

3  Labour  Gazette,  1916,  p.  83. 


THE    DILUTION    OF   LABOR  163 

ment  encouragement,  but  without  such  direct  government  inter- 
vention as  took  place  in  the  industries  directly  engaged  on  war 
work.  In  those  industries  in  which  the  laborers  were  well 
organized,  dilution  took  place  usually  as  a  result  of  agreements 
made  by  employers  with  the  unions.  These  conferences  were 
frequently  called  at  the  request  of  the  Army  Council  which  urged 
that  as  many  men  as  possible  be  released  for  the  army.  The 
initiative  was  usually  taken  by  the  Home  Office,  whose  factory 
inspectors  participated  in  the  conference.  During  the  year  1915 
agreements  to  allow  women  to  undertake  work  hitherto  carried 
on  by  men  were  made  in  the  cotton,  hosiery,  leather,  woolen  and 
worsted,  silk  and  felt  hat,  printing,  bleaching  and  dyeing,  wood- 
working, biscuit,  pastry  baking,  wholesale  clothing,  boot  making, 
earthenware  and  china  trades.  During  1916  further  agreements 
were  made  in  some  of  these  trades  and  there  was  an  extension 
of  the  trades  conferences  to  the  lace,  hosiery,  finishing,  silver 
plate  and  cutlery  and  brush  making  industries.^ 

Much  opposition  to  dilution  in  these  industries  was  shown 
by  the  trade  unionists  and  agreements  were  only  reached  after 
promises  had  been-  made  that  women  should  be  employed  on 
"  men's  work  "  during  the  war  period  only  and  that  the  men 
who  had  left  these  industries  to  undertake  military  service  should 
have  their  places  kept  open  for  them  on  their  return.  Women 
were  to  be  employed  only  on  work  which  "  they  were  physically 
fit  to  perform  "  and  were  to  be  paid  the  same  rates  of  wages  as 
had  been  paid  to  men  when  performing  similar  work.  An  im- 
portant item  in  the  agreement  reached  with  the  union  in  the 
leather  industry  was  that  the  local  trade  union  officials  were  to 
be  consulted  whenever  it  was  thought  advisable  to  substitute 
women  for  men.^ 

Many  of  the  nonmunition  industries  were  those  in  which 
women  were  most  largely  employed  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  and  it  was  therefore  natural  that  as  soon  as  they  had 
recovered  from  the  first  shock  of  the  war  and  had  entered  upon 

1  Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  and  Workshops,  1916, 
p.  3. 

2  British  Association  Report,  Credit,  Industry  and  the  War,  p.  151. 


164  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

a  period  of  great  activity  they  should  have  added  to  the  number 
of  women  employes.  Between  December,  1914,  and  July,  1915, 
it  is  estimated  that  there  was  an  increase  of  "  nearly  150,000  " 
in  the  number  of  women  employed  in  the  nonmunitions  indus- 
tries as  compared  to  an  increase  in  the  munitions  trades  of  only 
39,000/  After  July,  1915,  the  preference  of  women  for  the 
munitions  industries  became  very  marked.  There  was  only  a 
slight  increase  in  the  number  of  women  in  the  nonmunitions 
trades  during  the  year  ending  July,  1916,  and  during  the  next 
half  year  there  was  an  actual  decrease  in  the  number  of  women 
employed  in  industries  other  than  the  metal  and  chemical  trades. 
The  decrease  was  greatest  in  the  textile  trades  (32,000)  and  the 
clothing  trades  (11,000),^  precisely  those  industries  in  which 
women  have  normally  teen  most  largely  employed. 

It  was  thought  at  the  time  that  the  decline  in  the  number  of 
women  employed'in  the  above  industries  meant  not  only  a  decline 
in  the  demand  for  women's  labor  but  an  actual  shortage  of 
female  labor,  but  since  January,  1917,  increased  employment  in 
the  clothing  trades  throws  some  doubt  on  the  assertion  that  there 
is  any  real  shortage  of  female  labor.^ 

Less  effort  on  the  part  of  the  government  seems  to  have  been 
needed  in  securing  increased  employment  for  women  in  other 
than  the  manufacturing  industries.  Women's  fitness  for  clerical 
work  and  to  serve  as  shop  assistants  (retail  clerks  in  stores)  was 
so  obvious  that  employers  needed  little  persuasion  to  attempt  the 
substitution  of  women  for  men  in  these  occupations.  The  report 
of  the  Committee  on  Clerical  and  Commercial  Employments  has 
already  been  considered.  A  Shops  Committee,  appointed  at  about 
the  same  time,  which  undertook  to  find  out  how  many  men  could 
be  released  from  the  wholesale  and  retail  stores  for  the  army, 
reported  in  the  autumn  of  1915  that,  except  in  the  heavier 
branches  of  the  wholesale  trade,  very  few  men  needed  to  be 
retained  and  under  the  inspiration  of  this  committee's  report, 
many  trade  conferences  were  held  in  London  and  throughout  the 


1  Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  395. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  125, 
» Ibid.,  p.  275. 


THE   DILUTION    OF    LABOR  165 

country  at  which  those  present  agreed  to  do  everything  possible 
"  to  substitute  women  for  men."  ^ 

In  the  railway  service  there  has  been  a  very  great  extension  in 
the  employment  of  women  as  clerks  in  the  offices,  as  ticket  col- 
lectors, carriage  and  engine  cleaners,  porters  and  as  laborers  in 
the  shops.  On  the  tramways  of  the  large  cities  women  have 
for  some  time  been  employed  as  cleaners,  conductors  and  even 
as  drivers.  They  are  also  largely  employed  in  other  branches 
of  the  municipal  service,  as  in  power  stations,  gas  works,  in  parks 
and  in  road  cleaning.  In  the  government  postal  service  the 
employment  of  women  as  mail  carriers  and  in  other  capacities 
has  become  one  of  the  familiar  incidents  of  the  war. 

Considerable  substitution  of  women  for  men  has  taken  place 
in  grain  milling,  sugar  refining,  brewing  and  in  sawmilling. 
Even  in  building,  mining  and  quarrying  it  is  said  that  women 
have  replaced  men,  although  "  only  in  comparatively  small 
numbers."  ^  The  very  novelty  of  women's  appearance  in  these 
trades,  some  of  which  seem  entirely  unsuited  to  their  character 
and  capacity,  has  doubtless  caused  an  exaggerated  idea  as  to  the 
extent  to  which  women  have  replaced  men  in  industry. 

The  year  1917  has  seen  further  extensions  of  the  employment 
of  women  in  new  industries  although  it  has  also  shown,  accord- 
ing to  the  report  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories,  "  a  quiet 
dropping  off  from  processes  not  found  practically  adaptable  for 
women."  The  mainly  new  industries  into  which  women  have 
found  their  way  during  the  year  include  ship  and  marine  engi- 
neering yards,  blast  furnace  and  forge  work,  copper  works, 
spelter  construction  work  for  factories,  airdromes,  large  elec- 
trical stations,  maintenance  work  in  gas  work's  and  in  certain 
occupations  in  breweries.  The  extent  to  which  the  women  are 
being  substituted  for  men  is  further  illustrated  by  this  same 
report,  which  mentions  a  cement  works  run  almost  entirely  with 
women's  labor,  "  the  only  men  remaining  being  foremen,  engi- 
neers and  rotary  kilnmen,"  and  "  a  large  tobacco  factory  in 


1  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  pp.  62-63. 

2  Labour  Gazette,  October,  1916,  p.  357. 


166  BRITISH   LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

which  a  staff  of  women  mechanics  do  the  running,  repairs,  oiling 
and  setting  all  the  machines." 

The  inspectors  report  that  the  relatively  few  failures  of 
women's  work  seem  to  be  due  to  "  (a)  insufficient  care  in  selec- 
tion of  appropriate  women  for  the  kind  of  work  needed;  (b) 
insufficient  care  in  instruction  and  training  so  as  to  make  the 
women  really  efficient,  or  in  gradually  accustoming  them  to  new 
and  heavy  work;  (c)  insufficient  care  or  understanding  in  adapt- 
ing and  organizing  to  women's  needs  the  conditions  and  methods 
of  work;  (d)  opposition  on  the  part  of  men  workers,  leading 
in  a  very  few  cases  to  positive  obstruction  of  the  women  in 
doing  or  learning  their  work."  The  first  two  are  said  to  be  the 
main  hindrances  and  the  last  mentioned  the  least. 

The  Chief  Inspector's  report  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  possibility  of  rapid  extension  of  the  substitution  of  women 
for  men  depends  in  large  degree  on  the  extent  of  use  of  modern 
plant,  machinery  and  labor  saving  appliances.  Factories  with 
up  to  date  construction  and  equipment  have  found  relatively 
little  difficulty  in  releasing  men  for  military  service.  The 
possibility  of  substitution  has  also  depended  in  no  small  degree 
on  the  willingness  of  employers  to  introduce  welfare  work,  which 
the  inspectors  report  is  rapidly  finding  its  way  into  not  only 
new  establishments  but  into  those  in  which  women  have  long 
been  employed.^ 

Women  in  Agriculture 

Many  efforts  have  been  made  to  increase  the  employment  of 
women  in  agriculture,  but  these  have  had  only  a  partial  success, 
if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  official  estimates.  As  late  as  December, 
1916,  it  was  admitted  that  "  the  progress  has  been  slow  and  is  in 
no  way  commensurate  with  that  achieved  in  industrial  and  com- 
mercial occupations."  The  obstacles  were  said  to  be  prejudice 
on  the  part  of  the  farmers,  reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  women, 
insufficiency  of  housing  accommodations  and  low  wages. ^ 

1  Special  report  appended  to  annual  report  of  Chief  Inspector  of  FactOiies 
for  1917,  Labour  Gazette,  1918,  pp.  305-306. 
^Labour  Gazette,  1916,  p.  447. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  167 

To  overcome  these  obstacles  a  campaign  of  propaganda  was 
instituted  in  the  spring  of  1915  by  the  Board  of  Trade  and  the 
Board  of  Agriculture.  Women's  county  war  agricultural  com- 
mittees were  formed  to  carry  on  the  propaganda,  to  register 
women  willing  to  undertake  farm  work  and  to  arrange  to  place 
them  on  the  land.  Sixty-three  such  committees  had  been 
formed  by  the  end  of  the  year  1916  and  these  committees  in 
turn  worked  through  village  registrars,  4,000  in  number.  Meet- 
ings were  held  to  arouse  enthusiasm  and  to  explain  to  women 
the  need  for  their  services.  The  meetings  were  followed  by  a 
house  to  house  canvass  and  the  names  of  those  women  willing 
to  work  whole  or  part  time  were  entered  on  the  village  register. 
The  registrar  then  cooperated  with  the  nearest  employment 
exchange  in  endeavoring  to  place  these  women  on  the  land. 
About  140,000  women  registered  for  agricultural  service,  but  not 
all  could  be  placed  for  the  reasons  given  above. 

A  list  of  the  occupations  in  which  women  were  engaged  in 
agricultural  work  in  various  parts  of  the  country  includes  20 
classes  of  work  with  eight  subclasses  under  general  farm  work 
and  five  under  gardening.  The  report  on  their  activities  claims 
that  while  the  experience  gained  during  the  war  shows  that  some 
women  "  can  do  anything  and  everything  on  the  land  and  do  it 
well,"  the  average  woman  is  useful  chiefly  in  the  following 
occupations:  general  farm  work,  milking,  stock  tending  and 
rearing,  butter  making,  cheese  making,  poultry  rearing,  hay 
making,  fruit  picking,  hop  picking  and  gardening.  They  were 
said  to  be  especially  successful  in  milking  and  in  tending  and 
rearing  stock. ^  In  a  few  cases  women  had  been  given  short 
courses  of  training  in  milking,  general  farm  work  and  garden- 
ing and  one  of  the  notable  successes  reported  was  the  plan  of 
having  "  organized  gangs  of  women,  working  under  a  leader, 
who  visited  farms  in  rotation,  undertaking  jobs  at  piece  work 
rates."  ^ 

The  efforts  made  during  the  year  1916  to  substitute  women 
for  men  on  the  farms  were  generally  held  to  be  successful  in 
England,  especially  in  the  eastern  and  southeastern  counties, 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1916.  p.  448. 


168  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

where  a  considerable  increase  in  the  number  of  women  engaged 
in  farm  work  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  was  shown.  In  Scot- 
land and  Wales,  however,  the  efforts  were  not  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent an  absolute  decline  in  the  number  of  women  engaged  in 
agriculture,  owing  to  the  migration  of  women  to  munition  estab- 
lishments and  other  places  of  work  where  higher  wages  were 
offered/ 

Further  efforts  to  increase  the  number  of  women  engaged  in 
agricultural  occupations  took  place  during  1917,  but  they  do  not 
appear  to  have  been  generally  successful,  if  we  are  to  judge 
by  the  figures  given,  which  show  that  there  was  an  increase  dur- 
ing the  year  ending  July,  1917,  of  only  3,000  women  employed 
as  permanent  laborers,  while  among  women  employed  as  casual 
laborers  there  was  an  actual  decrease.  The  need  of  women  for 
munition  plants  and  in  industry  and  commerce,  generally,  had 
become  so  urgent  and  the  inducements  offered  were  so  much 
greater  than  those  offered  on  the  farms  that  relatively  few 
women  were  attracted  to  the  latter. 

Statistics  of  Extension  of  Employment  of  Women 

The  following  table  shows  the  effect  of  the  first  three  and 
one  half  years  of  the  war  in  extending  the  employment  of 
women  in  the  various  occupational  groups  in  Great  Britain,  as 
far  as  this  can  be  shown  by  official  estimates.  No  estimates 
were  prepared  for  the  year  ending  July,  1915,  and  comparison 
must  therefore  be  limited  to  the  rate  of  growth  between  July, 
1916,  and  July,  1917,  as  compared  to  the  two  year  period  ending 
in  July,  1916. 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1916,  p.  448. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR 


169 


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170  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

The  highest  rate  of  increase  throughout  the  first  three  years,  it 
will  be  at  once  observed,  took  place  in  government  establishments 
where  very  few  women  had  been  employed  prior  to  the,  war. 
Women  in  these  establishments  are  of  course  almost  exclusively 
employed  on  war  work. 

The  table  does  not  reveal  the  fact  that  in  the  manufacturing 
industries  under  private  ownership  the  increase  in  the  numbers 
of  women  employed  has  also  been  mainly  in  the  munitions 
establishments.  Figures  have  already  been  given  which  show 
the  number  of  women  employed  in  the  "  controlled  establish- 
ments "  early  in  1917  and  also  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
women  employed  in  the  metal  and  chemical  trades,  most  of 
whom  are  employed  in  making  munitions.  If  we  exclude  these 
latter  from  our  calculations  we  find  that  the  number  of  women 
in  industries  increased  during  the  three  years  by  only  112,000 — 
from  1,974,000  in  1914  to  2,086,000  in  1917.  Nearly  all  this 
increase  took  place  during  the  first  six  months  of  1915.  During 
the  last  year  for  which  the  figures  are  given  the  number  of 
women  employed  in  the  nonmunitions  group  has  barely  main- 
tained itself.^ 

The  table  shows  that  in  commercial  occupations,  in  the  pro- 
fessions and  in  the  local  government  service  the  rate  of  increase 
in  the  employment  of  women  has  been  fairly  steady  during  the 
first  three  years  of  the  war.  There  had  been  an  accelerated  rate 
of  increase  during  the  last  of  these  years  in  transportation,  in 
finance  and  banking  and  in  the  civil  service  while  the  rate  of 
increase  had  slackened  considerably  in  hotels  and  amusement 
places  and  in  agriculture,  casual  labor  in  agriculture  showing  an 
actual  decline.  To  some  extent,  this  slower  rate  of  increase,  or 
even  decline,  in  numbers  indicates  a  lessened  demand  for  the 
products  of  women's  labor,  a  decline  in  the  demand  for  luxuries, 
for  instance,  but  in  the  main  it  probably  means  that  the  demand 

^Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  395;  1918,  p.  216.  Figures  have  not  been 
published  for  a  period  later  than  January,  1918.  By  October.  1917,  there 
had  been  an  actual  decrease  in  the  number  of  women  in  the  non- 
munition  industries.  The  decrease  was  entirely  in  the  cotton  trades  as  a 
result  of  a  shortage  of  raw  materials,  but  in  all  the  principal  trades  the  rate 
of  increase  between  July  and  October,  1917,  was  less  than  during  the  period 
April-July,  1917. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  171 

for  women's  labor  in  the  "  essential  "  industries,  those  minister- 
ing directly  to  war  needs,  is  slowly  but  steadily  absorbing  the 
supply  of  female  labor.  The  latest  figures  available,  those  for 
January,  1918,  furnish  corroboration  of  this  statement,  for 
it  shows  that  while  there  had  been  an  increase  of  4,000  in  the 
number  of  women  employes  in  all  occupations  during  the 
quarter  October  to  January,  the  increases  were  confined  to  private 
industrial  establishments,  to  finance  and  banking,  to  commercial 
occupations,  to  the  civil  service  and  to  industries  under  local 
government  authorities.  All  other  groups  showed  a  decline  or 
at  best  a  stationary  condition  of  affairs.^ 

Sources  of  Supply  for  Women  Workers 

No  phase  of  the  labor  situation  in  Great  Britain  has  excited 
so  much  popular  attention  and  comment  as  the  increased  employ- 
ment of  women  in  industry  and  many  inquiries  have  been  made 
as  to  the  source  of  supply  of  these  women  workers.  To  the 
popular  imagination  there  have  been  pictured  the  figures  of 
duchesses  and  other  ladies  of  fine  breeding  running  the  lathes 
in  the  munition  factories  or  pouring  the  deadly  TNT  into  the 
endless  rows  of  shells. 

Individual  instances  of  the  industrial  employment  of  patri- 
otic women  of  the  higher  classes  undoubtedly  may  be  found  in 
Great  Britain,  but  they  have  not  constituted  an  important  source 
of  the  war  labor  supply.^  Women  accustomed  to  manual  work 
and  dependent,  wholly  or  partially,  on  such  work  for  their 
maintenance  have  furnished  the  great  bulk  of  the  female  labor 
which  has  been  drawn  into  industry  as  a  result  of  the  war.  Many 
women,  who  had  retired  from  industrial  service  after  marriage, 
have  felt  obliged  to  reenter  industry  since  their  husbands, 
fathers  or  other  male  support  have  entered  the  military  or  naval 

^Labour  Gazette,  1918.  p.  261. 

2  The  employment  of  the  "  higher  class "  women  seems  to  have  largely 
taken  the  form  of  "  the  week  end  munition  relief  workers "  who  worked 
Sunday  to  relieve  the  regular  staff.  There  were  not  many  of  these  workers, 
and  their  number  was  not  increasing.  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  pp.  70-71. 


172  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

service.  Others  have  been  attracted  to  industry  by  the  high 
wages  paid,  by  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  living  and,  in  some 
cases,  for  patriotic  reasons. 

In  a  report  made  by  the  Standing  Joint  Committee  of  Indus- 
trial Women's  Organizations  to  the  Joint  Committee  on  Labor 
Problems  After  the  War,  the  increase  in  the  number  of  women 
employed  in  July,  1916,  over  the  estimated  number  employed 
in  July,  1914,  is  put  at  866,000,  of  whom  462,000  were  absorbed 
by  industry,  transport  and  government  work  alone.*  The  report 
offers  the  following  succinct  statement  as  to  the  sources  from 
which  this  increased  number  of  employed  women  has  been 
drawn : 


(1)  A  large  number  are  women  who  have  transferred  their  services  from 
the  ranks  of  domestic  servants.  This  number  is  probably  much  larger  than 
the  estimate  of  100,000  given  by  the  Board  of  Trade. 

(2)  Many  transferences  have  been  made  from  the  ranks  of  outworkers, 
small  employers  on  their  own  account,  etc. 

(3)  The  wastage  at  the  later  years  has  been  less;  women  remaining  in 
industry  to  a  later  age,  after  marriage,  etc.,  while  girls  from  school  have  come 
quickly  into  employment. 

(4)  Married  women,  widows,  etc.,  have  returned  to  employment  in  large 
numbers,  both  for  economic  and  patriotic  reasons. 

(5)  A  certain  number  of  middle  class  women  have  entered  industry,  com- 
merce, etc.,  for  patriotic  or  economic  reasons,  who  would  under  normal 
circumstances  not  have  become  wage  earners. 


No  reliable  estimate  can  be  made  as  to  the  number  of  women 
employed  that  has  come  from  each  of  the  above  classes,  but  a 
statistical  analysis  has  been  made  of  the  prewar  occupations  of 
444,137  female  workers  (380,470  women  and  63,667  girls)  to 
whom  unemployment  books  had  been  issued  up  to  January,  1917, 
under  the  National  Insurance  (Part  II)  Munition  Workers  Act 
of  1916,  and  who  had  stated  their  occupations  definitely  enough 
to  make  a  tabulation  possible.  This  analysis  shows  clearly 
enough  the  extent  to  which  munition  workers  have  come  from 
other  industries  and  the  extent  to  which  they  are  made  up  of 
women  and  girls  not  previously  employed  in  gainful  occupations. 

^  These  are  the  Board  of  Trade  estimates. 


THE   DILUTION   OF   LABOR  173 


Occupations  in  January,  1917 

Metal 

Trades         Chemical  All 

Prewar  Occupations  (excluding     Trades  Oothing    Other      Insured 

engineering)  Including     Trades     Trades    Trades 

Same  trade   53,249  14,634  38,256  30,399  136,538 

Household    duties    and    not    previ- 
ously occupied 18,927  52,407  9.334  17,843  98,511 

Textile  trades  3,408  6,226  1,000  4,374  15,008 

Clothing  trades    4,635  17,911  8,430  8,787  39,793 

Other  industries  12.458  20,879  5.745  10,065  49,147 

Domestic  service   12,502  44.438  4,970  12,062  73,992 

Other  non-industrial  occupations  . .  5,449  17,079  3.643  4,977  31.148 

Total  insured  110,628  173,604  71,378  88.527  444,137 

•    The  Labour  Gazette,^  which  publishes  the  above  figures,  offers 
the  following  comment  upon  their  character  and  significance : 

Subtracting  the  number  of  persons  who  have  remained  in  the  same  trade  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  table  accounts  for  nearly  308,000  persons  who  have 
changed  their  occupations.  In  July.  1917  (the  latest  date  for  which  figures 
are  available),  the  number  of  women  drawn  into  industrial  work,  using  the 
term  to  include  government  establishments,  was  720,000,  or  rather  more  than 
double  the  number  drawn  into  the  trades  here  considered.  The  proportion  of 
the  total  increase  covered  by  these  figures  is  therefore  sufficiently  large  for 
them  to  be  taken  as  fairly  typical.  Assuming  that  the  whole  of  the  increase  of 
720,000  could  be  accounted  for  in  the  same  manner  as  the  increase  analyzed 
above,  it  would  mean  that  it  was  made  up  of  231,000  women  and  girls  who 
were  previously  unoccupied,  173,000  who  were  domestic  servants,  243,000  who 
came  from  other  industries,  including  93,000  from  the  clothing  trades,  and 
73.000  from  non-industrial  occupations  other  than  domestic  service.  These 
figures  can,  of  course,  only  be  taken  as  a  rough  indication  of  the  change  that 
has  taken  place,  but  they  must  be  sufficiently  near  the  truth  to  be  of  con- 
siderable interest. 

The  fact  that  so  many  persons  have  left  a  trade  can  not  be  taken  to  indicate 
that  the  numbers  employed  have  decreased  by  an  equal  amount,  as  these 
trades  in  their  turn  have  drawn  in  workers  from  the  outside.  Thus  in  Janu- 
ary, 1917,  at  the  date  to  which  these  figures  refer,  taking  the  clothing  trades 
as  a  whole,  the  numbers  of  women  and  girls  employed  nad  decreased  by 
32,000,  whereas  it  appears  from  the  above  table  that  the  newly  insured  alone 
had  drawn  in  nearly  40.000  females  from  the  clothing  trades,  which  must 
therefore  have  found  at  least  8.000  workers  from  outside.  In  the  textile 
trades,  the  loss  shown  in  the  table  is  15,000,  although  at  that  time  the  textile 
trades  had  increased  the  number  of  female  employes  by  25,000. 

1 1917,  p.  438. 


174  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

A  discussion  of  the  sources  of  female  labor  capable  of  sub- 
stituting directly  or  indirectly  for  male  labor  withdrawn  for 
military  service  inevitably  raises  the  query  as  to  the  extent  of 
this  supply.  How  many  women  are  still  available  for  employ- 
ment in  the  essential  industries? 

No  exact  answer  to  this  question  can,  of  course,  be  given. 
The  Board  of  Trade  estimated  in  July,  1916,  when  866,000 
women  had  already  been  added  to  industry,  that  there  were  still 
over  a  million  and  a  half  women  who  had  had  industrial  or 
commercial  experience  and  who  might  be  used  to  take  the  place 
of  men.  Up  to  October,  1917,  560,000  more  women  had  found 
employment,  which  would  indicate  that  there  were  then  probably 
less  than  a  million  of  women  who  have  had  industrial  or  com- 
mercial experience,  but  who  were  at  the  time  not  in  any  wage 
earning  occupations.  But  this,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  is  not 
equivalent  to  saying  that  these  women  are  to  any  large  extent 
now  available  for  industrial  purposes.  Most  of  them  are  over 
35  years  of  age  and  probably  most  of  them  are  married. 

It  must  be  realized  that,  although  these  women  may  not  be  working  for 
wages,  they  are  usually  working,  and  working  very  hard,  too,  in  keeping 
their  homes  and  looking  after  their  children.  To  take  such  women  into 
industry  will  not  be  a  national  advantage.  If  the  homes  are  to  be  kept  so 
that  the  rest  of  the  workers  and  the  children  may  be  properly  cared  for  it  is 
necessary  that  somebody  give  their  energy  and  time  to  the  task.  Already 
many  women  have  had  to  find  substitutes  to  do  the  work  of  their  homes, 
and  many  are  also  acting  as  the  unpaid  substitutes  for  domestic  servants.^ 

Some  evidence  of  a  shortage  of  female  labor  was  revealed  in 
the  latter  part  of  1916  and  the  first  part  of  1917,  when  the  num- 
ber of  women  remaining  on  the  registers  of  the  employment 
exchanges  at  the  end  of  the  month  showed  a  tendency  to  decline 
and  when  employers  in  the  textile,  clothing  and  other  trades 
making  large  use  of  female  labor  reported  a  shortage.  This  was 
at  first  thought  to  be  due  to  a  transference  from  these  industries 
to  "  munition  work  or  other  better  paid  occupations,"  ^  but  the 

^Report  of  the  Standing  Joint  Committee  of  Industrial  Women's  Organi- 
zations presented  to  the  Joint  Committee  on  Labor  Problems  After  the  War. 
2  Labour  Gazette,  1916,  pp.  8,  126. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  1T5 

experience  of  the  latter  half  of  1917  threw  doubt  on  this  inter- 
pretation and  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  decrease  in  the  number 
of  women  employed  in  these  trades  was  due  to  a  check  in  the 
demand  for  labor  in  these  trades.^ 

The  quarterly  reports  for  October,  1917,  and  for  January, 
1918,  again  raised  the  query  as  to  whether  the  supplies  of  female 
labor  were  not  approaching  exhaustion.  In  October  the  report 
for  the  quarter  showed  that  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
women  employed  was  only  48,000  as  compared  to  140.000  the 
preceding  quarter.  The  number  of  women  in  agriculture  showed 
an  actual  decline,  but  this  might  possibly  be  explained  by  seasonal 
variations.  In  industrial  occupations,  the  increase  had  been  only 
21,000  as  against  63,000  the  preceding  quarter.^ 

The  report  for  January,  1918.  is  even  more  striking.  The 
total  gain  in  the  number  of  female  employes  in  all  occupations 
was  only  4,000  and,  as  we  have  shown,  the  slight  increases  in  a 
few  of  the  groups  were  nearly  met  by  decreases  in  other  groups. 
The  most  notable  decreases  were  in  agriculture  (13,000)  and  in 
government  establishments  (3,500).  "The  falling  oflf  in  the 
number  of  males  employed,"  says  the  Gazette,  "  has  been  con- 
spicuously small,  probably  owing  largely  to  the  reinstatement  of 
men  returning  from  the  forces."  ^ 

From  such  evidence  as  is  available,  however,  it  would  seem  as 
if  the  continued  demand  for  labor  in  the  munition  industries 
would  have  to  be  secured  in  the  main  by  a  shifting  of  labor 
from  the  less  essential  trades  and  by  an  increased  use  of  men 
released  from  the  army  because  of  their  disabilities. 

Mobility  of  Women's  Labor 

The  shifting  of  women  from  one  industry  to  another  has 
frequently,  though  not  always,  meant  a  transference  of  residence 
from  one  part  of  the  kingdom  to  another.  Such  a  transfer  before 
the  war  was  hard  to  bring  about,  as  female  labor  was  thought  to 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  274. 

2  Ihid..  -1918.  p.  48. 
«/6t<i.,  p.  216. 


176  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

be  especially  immobile.  Domestic  ties,  of  course,  made  it  diffi- 
cult for  many  women  to  move,  but  even  in  the  case  of  women 
without  strong  domestic  ties  there  were  two  obstacles  which 
stood  in  the  way  whenever  the  labor  exchanges  undertook  to 
make  such  transfers.    These  obstacles  were : 

(1)  The  low  wages  which  made  it  difficult  for  women  to  support  them- 
selves while  away  from  home,  and 

(2)  The  "lack  of  a  compelling  motive  strong  enough  to  counteract  the 
working  woman's  natural  distrust  of  new  conditions  of  employment  amongst 
strange  surroundings."  ^ 

These  difficulties  largely  disappeared  during  the  war.  High 
wages  on  government  contract  work  and  economic  pressure 
combined  with  a  patriotic  desire  to  serve  the  country  by  engag- 
ing directly  in  the  manufacture  of  munitions  broke  down,  at  least 
for  the  time  being,  the  reluctance  of  many  women  to  leave  their 
homes  to  engage  in  work. 

Probably  most  of  the  transfers  of  women  made  by  the 
employment  exchanges  from  one  district  to  another  and  which 
rose  from  32,988  in  1914  to  160,003  in  1916  '  do  not  indicate 
any  great  mobility.  They  oftentimes  mean  simply  that  women 
have  gone  from  one  village  to  another  at  no  great  distance  or 
from  one  district  in  London  to  another.  In  many  instances, 
however,  the  transfers  were  for  considerable  distances.  In  the 
earlier  days  of  the  war  women  went  from  the  pottery  districts 
to  silk  mills  in  the  neighboring  towns;  cotton  operatives  and  car- 
pet weavers  were  transferred  to  the  Yorkshire  woolen  mills; 
tailoresses  from  Cambridge,  Cardiff,  Belfast  and  elsewhere 
went  to  work  in  the  clothing  factories  of  Leeds. 

In  the  West  Midlands  district  alone,  where  before  the  war  the  migration 
of  industrial  women  was  practically  unknown,  over  4,000  women  were  dur- 
ing 1915  placed  by  the  employment  exchanges  in  employment  away  from  their 
own  districts,  the  greater  number  on  munitions  work,  and  others  as  artificial 
silk  workers,  rubber  workers,  chocolate  makers,  farm  hands  and  as  substitutes 
for  men  in  various  kinds  of  work, 

In  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  occupations  were  entirely  new  to  the 

1  Labour  Gazette.  1918.  pp.  92-93. 

2  Later  figures  not  available. 


THE   DILUTION   OF   LABOR  177 

workers,  who  were  drawn  from  such  diverse  occupations  as  carpet  weaving, 
chain  making,  domestic  service,  dressmaking,  fustian  cutting,  lock  making, 
millinery,  shopwork,  tailoring,  web  making  and  pottery  decorating. 

Similarly,  much  useful  work  was  accomplished  during  this  early  period 
by  the  exchanges  in  transferring  inland  to  other  employment  women  from 
seasonal  resorts  on  the  east  coast,  and  fisher  girls  and  other  women  engaged 
in  subsidiary  industries  in  fishing  towns.^ 

During  the  year  1916  women  were  transferred  through  the 
exchanges  to  act  as  substitutes  for  men  in  clerical  and  commer- 
cial occupations,  in  staple  industries,  in  munition  plants  and  in 
agriculture. 

The  policy  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor  was  to  avoid  as  far  as 
possible  disturbing  the  labor  employed  on  other  important  work 
in  munition  centers  and  this  policy  led  the  exchanges  to  conduct 
their  recruiting  campaign  for  munition  plants  in  non-industrial 
areas  remote  from  the  centers  where  labor  was  required.  Appeals 
were  made  to  women  in  the  eastern  and  southern  coast  towns  and 
in  Tyneside  towns  where  there  is  little  industrial  activity  to 
take  up  work  in  munition  plants.  During  one  month  (Feb- 
ruary, 1917)  5,118  women  from  some  200  different  exchange 
districts  were  brought  into  eight  large  munition  centers. 

To  one  factory,  for  example,  in  the  South  of  Scotland  1,641  women  were 
brought  during  this  period  (February,  1917)  from  63  different  districts,  in- 
cluding 228  from  two  Tyneside  towns  alone.  40  from  Berwick,  55  from  In- 
verness and  9  from  one  small  Fifeshire  village.  To  another  in  the  West 
Midlands  112  women  were  imported  from  centers  as  far  apart  as  Aberdeen 
and  Penzance.^ 

The  transfer  of  these  women  has  necessitated  unusual  precau- 
tions on  the  part  of  the  employment  exchanges  to  see  that  proper 
arrangements  have  been  made  for  their  transportation,  for  their 
reception,  board,  lodging  and  general  welfare.  "  Women  sub- 
mitted for  work  in  national  factories  have  to  pass  a  medical 
test  before  they  leave  home  and  in  all  cases  before  proceeding 
on  their  journey,  women  are  fully  informed  as  to  the  conditions 
of  employment,  the  details  of  the  journey,  the  address  of  the 

^Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  93. 


178  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

exchange  at  the  other  end,  and  the  nature  and  approximate  cost 
of  the  lodging  accommodation  available."  ^ 


Replacement  of  Men  by  Women 

The  extent  to  which  the  extension  of  women's  employment 
during  the  war  has  meant  a  replacement  of  men  naturally  varies 
in  the  different  industries  and  occupational  groups.  In  the  muni- 
tions trades,  speaking  generally,  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
women  has  meant  oftentimes  an  actual  increase  in  the  number 
of  persons  employed,  although  there  has  been,  of  course,  much 
replacement.  "  In  the  metal  and  chemical  trades,  in  which  the 
volume  of  work  has  developed  enormously,  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  women  employed,"  says  the  Labour  Gazette,^  "  is 
much  in  excess  of  the  numbers  replacing  men.  The  reverse  is 
true  for  all  other  industries;  that  is  to  say,  the  number  of  women 
employed  on  what  was  previously  regarded  as  women's  work  has 
declined,  and  the  increase  in  numbers  is  due  entirely  to  replace- 
ment." 

The  extent  to  which  women  have  replaced  men  in  the  various 
industries  and  occupations  depends  largely  upon  the  interpreta- 
tion given  to  the  word  "  replacement."  During  the  first  two 
years  of  the  war,  in  manufacturing  industries  there  appears  to 
have  been  very  little  direct  replacement,  i.e.,  few  women  were 
employed  to  do  precisely  the  same  work  which  had  been  done  by 
men.  The  reasons  are,  of  course,  not  hard  to  discover — lack 
of  training  in  the  skilled  trades  and  lack  of  physical  strength  in 
the  unskilled  ones.  Some  sort  of  reorganization  of  the  industry 
was  usually  necessary  to  allow  of  the  employment  of  women. 
In  the  munitions  trades  this  was  not  hard  to  bring  about,  for  the 
enormous  increase  in  output  permitted  a  splitting  up  of  the 
processes,  the  introduction  of  machinery  and  therefore  the 
conversion  of  work  which  had  required  the  services  of  the  highly 
skilled  machinist  into  repetition  work  requiring  little  judgment. 
In  shell  making,  for  example,  it  was  said  that 

1  Labour  Gazette.  1917,  p.  93. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  395. 


THE   DILUTION   OF   LABOR  179 

The  worker  must  be  able  to  adjust  the  shell  in  its  right  position  in  the 
lathe,  to  manipulate  the  different  levers  and  to  apply  the  gauges.  But 
since  the  "  stops  "  are  all  arranged  for  her  it  requires  little  intelligence  to 
know  when  to  stop  applying  a  given  tool.  It  is  unnecessary  for  the  girls 
to  lift  the  shells  by  hand,  since  there  is  a  simple  form  of  crane  for  this 
purpose  adjacent  to  every  lathe.^ 

Conditions  were  somewhat  different  in  other  than  the  engineer- 
ing industries,  but  the  general  character  of  substitution  was 
much  the  same  wherever  large  numbers  of  women  were 
employed. 

In  some  industries  replacement  was  made  easier  by  a  shifting 
in  the  demand.  In  the  tailoring  trade,  for  example,  there  was  a 
lessening  in  the  demand  for  high  grade  clothes  requiring  skilled 
male  labor  for  their  manufacture.  Many  men  went  into  khaki 
and  others  undertook  to  practise  economy.  The  result  was  an 
increased  demand  for  military  clothing  and  lower  priced  gar- 
ments in  whose  manufacture  cheap  female  labor  could  be 
utilized.^ 

There  were,  of  course,  certain  instances  in  which  women 
directly  replaced  men,  in  the  sense  that  they  did  the  same  work 
which  men  did  before  the  war.  Most  instances  of  this  kind, 
at  least  during  the  first  two  years  of  the  war,  were  to  be  found 
in  other  than  the  manufacturing  industries.  Even  in  these 
cases,  although  the  work  done  by  the  women  was  substantially 
the  same  as  that  done  by  men,  changes  in  working  conditions 
and  rules  had  sometimes  to  be  made.  On  the  tramways,  for 
example,  the  old  rule  that  conductors  after  six  months'  service 
must  serve  as  drivers,  which  service  required  12  days'  training, 
was  abandoned  when  women  were  employed  as  conductors.^ 

In  the  munitions  trades,  in  which  the  agreement  with  the  trade 
unions  provided  for  dilution,  the  reorganization  made  necessary 
by  the  employment  of  women  was  readily  secured  by  the  govern- 
ment's demand  that  dilution  be  adopted  as  a  condition  to  receiv- 
ing government  contracts.  In  other  industries  employers  hesi- 
tated to  undertake  the  necessary  reorganization  for  a  number  of 

1  Kirkaldy,  Labour,  Finance  and  the  War,  pp.  146-147. 
2/6/rf.,  p.   193. 
8  Ibid.,  pp.  197-198. 


180  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

reasons:  uncertainty  as  to  how  long  the  war  would  last,  uncer- 
tainty as  to  whether  women  would  want  to  continue  in  industry 
after  the  war,  unwillingness  to  furnish  the  training  necessary, 
reluctance  to  incur  the  expense  for  new  equipment,  and  the  fear 
of  opposition  from  trade  unions. 

Trade  Unions  Continue  to  Oppose  Dilution 

As  the  continuation  of  the  war  has  called  for  the  release  of 
more  men  for  military  service  the  government  has  felt  obliged 
to  bring  pressure  upon  employers  in  the  nonmunition  trades 
to  attempt  dilution  and  with  this  end  in  view  it  prepared  early 
in  1917  to  amend  the  Munitions  of  War  Acts  so  as  to  give  the 
government  power  to  require  dilution  upon  private  work.  The 
trade  union  opposition  to  this  proposed  amendment  was  so  strong, 
however,  that  the  government  abandoned  the  attempt,  but  has 
sought  to  accomplish  the  same  result  by  other  means.  By  its 
plan  of  forbidding  the  employment  of  male  labor  of  military 
age  to  fill  vacancies  in  "  the  restricted  trades,"  as  described  in 
the  last  chapter,  and  by  its  steady  withdrawal  of  men  for  military 
service  from  these  trades  it  has  forced  the  employers  to  lessen 
their  output  or  to  attempt  dilution. 

In  spite  of  the  Treasury  agreement  which  the  government 
made  with  the  representatives  of  the  leading  trade  unions  irr 
March,  1915,  and  in  spite  of  the  authority  conferred  upon  the 
Ministry  of  Munitions  by  the  Munitions  of  War  Act,  trade 
union  opposition  to  the  policy  of  dilution  did  not  cease,  but  con- 
tinued to  embarrass  the  government  in  the  execution  of  its 
policy.  Complaint  was  chiefly  to  the  effect  that  employers  were 
not  consulting  with  workers  already  employed  in  their  shops 
when  they  desired  to  introduce  unskilled  or  female  labor,  in 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  Schedule  2  of  the  Munitions  of 
War  Act,  1915,  which  provides  among  other  things  that: 

Due  notice  shall  be  given  to  the  workmen  concerned  wherever  practicable 
of  any  changes  of  working  conditions  which  it  is  desired  to  introduce  as 
a   result    of    the    establishment    becoming   a    controlled    establishment,    and 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  181 

opportunity   for  local   consultation  with  workmen  or  their  representatives 
shall  be  given,  if  desired. 

Many  local  trade  unionists  seem  to  have  considered  that  this 
practically  amounted  to  a  promise  to  obtain  consent  of  the  men 
in  the  shop  before  dilution  was  attempted.  In  order  to  clear  up 
this  point  the  Ministry  issued  in  October-November,  1915,  a 
circular  (L6),  which  set  forth  the  procedure  recommended  when 
an  employer  planned  to  change  working  conditions  in  his  estab- 
lishment. It  was  suggested  that  the  employer  consult  with  a 
committee  appointed  by  the  men  in  his  shop  and  with  the  local 
trade  union  representative  and  obtain  their  consent,  if  possible, 
but  the  circular  went  on  to  say : 

It  is  not  intended  that  the  introduction  of  the  change  should  be  delayed 
until  concurrence  of  the  work  people  is  obtained.  The  change  should  be 
introduced  after  a  reasonable  time,  and  if  the  work  people  or  their  repre- 
sentatives desire  to  bring  forward  any  question  relating  thereto  they  should 
follow  the  procedure  laid  down  in  Part  I  of  the  (Munitions)  act. 

In  order  to  lessen  the  opposition  to  dilution  on  the  part  of  the 
trade  unionists  the  government  enlarged  the  National  Advisory 
Committee  by  adding  other  labor  leaders  and  made  it  the  Cen- 
tral Labor  Supply  Committee,  whose  function  it  was  "  to  advise 
and  assist  "  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  regarding  the  "  most  pro- 
ductive use  of  all  available  labor  supplies."  Local  labor  advisory 
boards  were  also  established  (Circular  L57)  "  in  such  districts 
as  the  National  Advisory  Committee  shall  determine  "  to  see 
that  the  provisions  of  Schedule  2  were  being  carried  out  by  em- 
ployers, etc.,  and  to  "  aid  dilution  by  pressing  the  abandonment 
of  trade  union  restrictions  in  accordance  with  the  Treasury 
agreement." 

Keeping  Records  of  Departures  from  Prewar  Practices 

Complaint  has  constantly  been  made  by  the  workmen  that 
paragraph  6  of  Schedule  2  of  the  Munitions  of  War  Act,  which 
provides  that 

a   record   of  the   nature   of   the   departure   from   the   conditions   prevailing 
when  the  establishment  became  a  controlled  establishment  shall  be  kept  and 


182  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

shall  be  open  for  inspection  by  the  authorized  representative  of  the  govern- 
ment, 

has  not  been  observed  by  the  employers.  The  difficulty  here  lies 
largely  with  the  interpretation  of  the  word  '*  departure."  Many 
changes  made  by  the  employer  which  he  considers  are  not  depar- 
tures from  the  prewar  practices  have  been  made  and  no  record 
kept  because  they  have  been  due  to  changes  in  machinery  or 
methods  of  production  which  call  for  the  employment  of  a  differ- 
ent grade  of  labor.  Under  the  circumstances  the  employer  calls 
this  new  work,  while  the  laborers,  having  in  mind  the  per- 
formance of  similar  work  before  the  war,  insists  that  this  is  a 
"  departure  "  or  "  change,"  which  requires  a  "  record."  Prob- 
lems of  this  sort  have  been  particularly  perplexing  in  connection 
with  dilution  and  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  has  endeavored  to 
lay  down  the  principles  to  be  followed  although  admitting  that 
many  cases  arise  in  which  there  is  a  large  element  of  doubt. 

Thus  in  a  memorandum  (95)  issued  in  September,  1916,  by 
the  Ministry  of  Munitions,  it  is  stated  that 

The  introduction  of  new  machinery  or  the  alteration  or  improvement  of 
existing  machinery  is  not  in  itself  a  departure  which  requires  to  be  recorded, 
but  if  such  introduction,  etc.,  is  accompanied  by,  e.g.,  a  change  in  the  class 
of  labor  employed  on  the  job  or  the  machine  or  which  would  have  been  em- 
ployed on  the  machine  in  ordinary  circumstances,  a  record  of  the  facts 
should  be  made.^ 

The  following  rules  are  laid  down  for  controlled  establish- 
ments in  the  matter  of  dilution: 

5.  When  the  workshop  or  department,  etc.,  has  been  started  since  the  war 
or  the  job  is  new  to  the  establishment  and  the  work  is  carried  on  under  dif- 
ferent conditions,  e.g.,  with  different  classes  of  labor,  from  those  which 
would  customarily  have  obtained  before  the  war,  a  change  in  working  condi- 
tions for  the  purpose  of  records  under  the  Munitions  of  War  Acts,  must  be 
deemed  to  have  taken  place  and  a  record  should  be  made.  The  record  should 
clearly  state  the  existing  conditions,  e.g.,  the  class  of  labor  employed,  and 
state  that  the  job  or  department,  etc.,  is  a  new  one,  and  that  the  establishment 
therefore  had  no  previous  practice.   .    .    . 

6.  The  following  are  examples  of  cases  in  which  records  are  required  in 
regard  to  a  change  in  the  class  of  labor  employed: 

1  Memorandum  M.  M.  95  (embodying  Circulars  L65  and  M.  M.  56).  Para- 
graph 7,  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  376. 


THE    DILUTION    OF    LABOR  183 

a.  The  employment  of  women  on  work  formerly  done  by  men  or  boys, 
whether  skilled,  semi-skilled  or  unskilled. 

b.  The  employment  of  unskilled  men  on  work  formerly  done  by  semi- 
skilled men, 

c.  The  employment  of  unskilled  men  on  work  formerly  done  by 
skilled  men. 

d.  The  employment  of  semi-skilled  men  on  work  formerly  done  by 
skilled  men. 

e.  The  employment  of  men  in  one  trade  on  work  formerly  done  by 
another  trade. 

f.  The  employment  of  one  class  of  tradesmen  in  a  trade  on  the  work 
of  another  class  in  the  same  trade,  such  as  (1)  riveters  doing 
platers*  or  calkers*  work,  and  (2)  light  platers  doing  sheet  iron 
workers'  work. 

g.  The  mode  of  doing  work  as  by  splitting  a  skilled  man's  job  into 
two  parts,  one  of  which  continues  to  be  done  by  a  skilled  man  and 
the  other  is  thereafter  done  by  an  unskilled  man  or  woman. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  making  of  this  record  is  not 
an  admission  by  the  employer  that  such  a  change  has  been  made 
in  his  mode  of  operations  as  requires  the  restoration  at  the  close 
of  the  war  of  the  prewar  conditions,  including  the  displace- 
ment of  the  laborers  taken  on  during  the  war.  This  may  or  may 
not  be  the  case.  The  principle  is  that  during  the  war  all  such 
questions  are  in  abeyance.  The  record  is  to  be  kept  in  order 
that  reliable  and  accurate  data  may  be  available  for  the  purpose 
of  deciding  questions  as  to  the  restoration  of  prewar  conditions 
when  once  the  war  is  over. 

It  is  this  very  uncertainty  as  to  how  far  restoration  of  pre- 
war conditions  can  go  which  has  been  in  part  responsible  for  the 
restlessness  and  discontent  of  the  rank  and  file  of  trade  unionists. 
Week  by  week  changes  are  taking  place  in  the  factory  and  work- 
shop which  apparendy  are  fundamental  and  which  the  workmen 
believe  can  not  be  undone,  no  matter  how  solemn  the  pledge  of 
Ministers  and  the  House  of  Commons  that  the  old  conditions 
will  be  restored. 

The  discontent  caused  by  dilution  reached  its  head  in  April 
and  May,  191Y,  when  the  apparent  determination  of  the  govern- 
ment to  amend  the  Munitions  Act  so  as  to  extend  dilution  to 
private  work  was  one  of  the  prominent  reasons  for  an  extensive 
series  of  strikes  in  the  engineering  establishments. 


184  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

Very  reluctantly  the  government  abandoned  the  plan  to  require 
dilution  of  labor  on  private  work.  Repeated  conferences  v^ere 
held  between  the  government  and  the  leading  trade  unionists  in 
the  engineering  trades  and  changes  in  the  mode  of  safeguarding 
skilled  labor  in  these  trades  were  suggested  with  the  idea  of 
making  the  dose  more  palatable.  Progress  seemed  to  be  made 
and  for  a  time  at  least  the  leaders  seemed  reconciled  to  the 
plan.^  Opposition  continued,  however,  on  the  part  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  trade  unionists  and  the  "  silent  strike  "of  May, 
1917,  showed  the  futility  of  attempting  to  coerce  them.  When 
Mr.  Churchill  became  Minister  of  Munitions,  it  was  decided  to 
abandon  that  part  of  the  Munitions  (Amendment)  Bill  of  191T 
which  provided  for  dilution  on  other  than  munitions  work. 

Dilution  has  nevertheless  taken  place  on  a  large  scale  in 
private  plants  and,  as  we  have  seen,  employers  have  been  aided 
in  bringing  it  about  by  the  factory  inspectors  and  other  officials. 
It  has  been  greatly  facilitated,  of  course,  by  the  government 
program  forbidding  the  entrance  of  men  of  military  age  into 
the  restricted  occupations  and  by  the  rapid  withdrawal  from  the 
nonessential  trades  of  able  bodied  men  for  military  service.  In 
such  cases  probably  the  word  "  substitution  "  is  more  appropri- 
ate than  "  dilution." 

^British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  383. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Wages,  Cost  of  Living,  Hours  of  Labor,  Welfare  Work 
and  Unemployment 

We  have  already  described  the  changes  which  took  place  in 
the  rates  of  wages  during  the  first  year  of  the  war  and  have 
observed  that  the  advances  made  after  January,  1915,  generally 
took  the  form  of  bonuses  "  limited  to  the  duration  of  the 
war." 

Extent  of  Wage  Increases 

The  official  statistical  report  of  wage  changes  for  the  year 
1914,  considered  as  a  whole,  may  be  said  to  have  yielded  only 
negative  results.  Of  the  834,240  work  people  whose  rates  of 
wages  were  reported  to  have  changed  during  the  year,  407,230 
had  received  a  net  increase  amounting  to  £40,210  per  week,  while 
404,960  sustained  a  net  loss  of  £35,148  per  week.  The  remaining 
22,050  had  had  upward  and  downward  changes  which  left  their 
wages  at  the  same  level  held  at  the  beginning  of  the  year. 

The  increases  which  took  place  were  most  marked  in.  the  build- 
ing, engineering  and  shipbuilding  and  transport  trades,  while 
the  decreases  appeared  in  the  mining,  pig  iron  and  iron  and  steel 
industries,  where  wages  fluctuate  with  the  selling  prices  of  the 
products.^ 

The  first  trades  to  be  affected  by  the  upward  changes  in  wages 
following  the  outbreak  of  the  war  were  those  more  directly 
concerned  with  the  output  of  munitions  and  the  transport  of 
troops  and  supplies,  but  the  movement  soon  spread  to  all  indus- 
tries, as  the  number  of  enlistments  rose,  the  shortage  of  labor 
became  evident  and  rising  prices  not  only  justified  demands  for 

*  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  p.  30. 

185 


186  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

increased  remuneration  of  labor  but  made  such  increases  possible. 

In  October,  1915,  the  Board  of  Trade  presented  a  table  which 
showed  that  in  various  groups  of  trades,  so  far  as  reported  to 
the  department,  2,846,000  work  people  had  received,  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  increases  in  wages  estimated  at  £493,800 
per  week.  These  figures  relate  only  to  manual  workers  and  are 
exclusive  of  shop  assistants,  clerks,  salaried  officials  and  domestic 
servants.  The  same  authority  estimated  that  1,600,000  railway 
servants,  seamen,  agricultural  laborers,  police  and  governmental 
employes  received  in  the  aggregate  increases  in  wages  amount- 
ing to  £270,000  per  week. 

While  the  wage  increases  afifected  all  the  principal  trades,  they 
were  most  marked  in  coal  mining,  engineering  and  shipbuilding, 
with  large  advances  to  general  laborers  in  all  districts  throughout 
the  country,  and  the  advances  were  less  noticeable  in  the  build- 
ing, printing  and  furnishing  trades,  in  linen  manufacture  and  in 
certain  luxury  trades. 

Apart  from  these  advances  in  the  rates  of  pay,  many  workers 
had  received  substantial  additions  to  their  weekly  earnings, 
owing  to  overtime  work,  speeding  up  and  greater  regularity  of 
employment.^ 

Taking  the  year  1915  as  a  whole,  the  total  number  of  people 
who  were  reported  to  the  Board  of  Trade  as  having  received 
war  bonuses  or  increased  rates  of  wages  was  3,165,000,  The 
total  increases  were  £603,000  per  week  or  an  average  per  person 
of  3s.  lOd.  The  increases  were  greatest  in  the  trades  mentioned 
in  the  October  report. 

There  were  three  periods  of  rising  wages  and  two  of  falling 
wages  in  the  nineteen  years  preceding  1915,  said  the  Labour 
Gazette,  the  periods  of  rising  wages  being  the  five  years  1896- 
1900,  the  two  years  1906-1907,  and  the  five  years,  1910-1914,  but 
the  increase  for  the  single  year  1915  was  greater  than  the  increase 
for  any  of  these  periods.  Compared  to  the  £603,100  weekly 
increase  in  1915,  the  greatest  increase  recorded  in  any  single 
year  prior  to  1915  was  £208,588  in  1900.^ 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1915,  pp.  354-355. 

2  Ibid..  1916,  p.  4. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  187 

All  these  figures  relate  only  to  changes  in  rates  of  wages. 
They  do  not  take  account  of  increased  earnings  resulting  from 
overtime,  greater  regularity  of  employment,  or  the  transference 
of  work  people  from  lower  paid  to  higher  paid  employments. 
On  the  other  hand  they  do  not  take  into  account  the  extensive 
substitution  of  women  and  young  persons  for  men,  which  has 
tended  to  lower  wages  per  head  of  those  employed,^ 

The  upward  movement  in  rates  of  wages  continued  through- 
out the  year  1916,  affecting  approximately  the  same  number  of 
persons,  so  far  as  these  were  reported.  The  number  of  persons 
reported  to  have  received  an  increased  rate  of  pay  was  3,400,000 
and  the  net  weekly  increase  amounted  to  £595,000  over  the 
preceding  year,  an  average  of  about  3s.  6d.  per  person. 

It  should  be  remembered,  said  the  Labour  Gazette,  that  these 
figures  "  include  increases  granted  not  only  to  men  but  to  boys 
and  women  and  girls.  The  amount  of  the  advances  granted  to 
men  has  usually  been  greater  than  that  given  to  females  and  boys, 
and  accordingly,  if  the  average  increases  per  head  in  the  various 
trades  be  calculated,  it  will  be  affected  by  the  proportion  of  male 
and  female  labor  employed,  and  the  average  increase  for  men 
alone  would  be  greater."  ^ 

As  in  the  preceding  year  the  advances  in  wages  were  greatest 
in  coal  mining,  engineering,  shipbuilding  and  the  textile  trades. 

No  complete  account  can  be  given  (says  the  Labour  Gasette)  at  this  time, 
of  all  the  changes  in  rates  of  wages  which  have  been  made  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war,  as  among  unorganized  work  people  many  changes  escape 
attention,  but  so  far  as  reported  it  appears  that  up  to  the  end  of  December, 
1916,  nearly  six  million  work  people  had  received  some  advance.  The  amount 
varied,  but,  on  average,  the  weekly  increase  to  these  work  people  was  about 
6s.  per  head,  and  in  some  of  the  industries  directly  concerned  with  the  supply 
of  war  requirements  ranged  from  10s.  to  12s.  per  week.  ^ 

The  records  for  all  previous  years  were  dwarfed  by  that  of 
the  year  1917,  when  the  number  of  work  people  reported  to  have 
received  increases  of  wages  was  4,690,000  and  the  total  amount 
of  the  weekly  increases  was  £2,183,000.     The  increases  came 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1916,  pp.  4-5. 

2  Ibid.,  1917,  p.  4. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  3. 


188  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

about  in  some  trades  by  the  operation  of  the  sliding  scales  based 
on  the  selling  price  of  the  products.  This  was  true  in  the 
pig  iron  and  the  iron  and  steel  industries.  In  the  engineering 
and  shipbuilding  industries  the  awards  of  the  Committee  on 
Production  explain  a  large  part  of  the  increases  and  statutory 
orders  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions,  and  arbitrators'  awards  or 
trade  agreements  were  responsible  for  others.  War  grants  and 
bonuses  were  largely  responsible  for  the  advances  in  the  textile, 
the  boot  and  shoe  and  other  trades.  Of  agricultural  laborers  it 
is  said  that  the  rates  of  wages  "continued  to  rise,  partly  as  a 
result  of  the  rise  in  retail  prices  and  the  shortage  of  labor,  and 
partly,  in  some  districts,  in  consequence  of  the  enactment  for 
Great  Britain  of  a  minimum  wage  for  adult  able  bodied  men,  at 
the  rate  of  25s.  per  week,  inclusive  of  the  value  of  allowances  in 
kind."  ^ 

During  the  first  six  months  of  1918,  changes  in  wages  have  all 
been  in  an  upward  direction.  A  net  increase  in  their  weekly 
wages  of  £1,174,700  had  been  received  by  2,506,000  workers. 
The  increases  were  largely  in  the  shape  of  war  bonuses  or  war 
grants  by  the  Committee  on  Production.^ 

Wage  Regulation 

The  governm.ent  seems  to  have  made  no  efforts  to  regulate 
wages  or  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  wage  contract  until 
the  passage  of  the  Munitions  of  War  Act  of  July  2,  1915.  Even 
then,  such  regulations  or  interferences  were  limited  to  controlled 
establishments,  except  that,  under  the  compulsory  arbitration 
provisions  of  Part  I  of  the  act,  differences  in  regard  to  the  rates 
of  wages  were  among  the  differences  which  might  be  settled  by 
the  methods  there  laid  down,  if  such  differences  arose  in  muni- 
tion establishments,  or  in  other  establishments,  provided  Part  I 
of  the  act  had  been  applied  to  them  by  the  King's  proclamation. 

The  Act  of  1915  applied  to  wages  in  controlled  establishments 
in  that  it  provided  that  any  proposal  for  any  change  in  the  rate 
of  wages,  salary,  etc.,  of  any  class  of  persons  employed  in  such 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1918,  pp.  4-5. 
2/6td.,  pp.  234,  279. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,   ETC.  189 

establishments  must  be  submitted  to  the  Minister  of  Munitions, 
who  had  power  to  withhold  his  consent  within  fourteen  days  of 
the  date  of  the  submission  or  to  require  that  the  matter  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  arbitration  tribunal.  Schedule  2  of  the  act  also 
provided  that  "  the  relaxation  of  existing  demarcation  restriction 
or  admission  of  semi-skilled  or  female  labor  shall  not  aflfect 
adversely  the  rates  customarily  paid  for  the  job.  In  cases 
where  men  who  ordinarily  do  the  work  are  adversely  afifected 
thereby,  the  necessary  readjustments  shall  be  made  so  that  they 
can  maintain  their  previous  earnings." 

This  provision  was  inserted  at  the  request  of  the  unions  and 
was  intended  to  protect  the  wage  rates  which  they  had  built  up 
through  a  long  process  of  collective  bargaining.  It  had  the 
unexpected  result  that  under  the  stimulus  of  piece  rate  production 
and  with  the  aid  of  machinery  and  a  high  degree  of  division  of 
labor  these  irreducible  piece  rates  were  made  to  yield  to  the  semi- 
skilled workers  earnings  much  in  excess  of  those  formerly 
received  by  the  skilled  laborers  whose  places  had  been  filled  and, 
what  was  more  trying,  in  excess  of  the  earnings  of  skilled  work- 
ers who  remained  at  work  on  a  time  wage  basis. 

Nevertheless,  the  men  were  at  first  not  concerned  with  this 
problem  of  inequality  of  earnings,  but  feared  to  put  forth  their 
full  exertions  through  fear  of  a  reduction  of  the  piece  rates.  In 
November,  1915,  therefore,  the  Minister  of  Munitions  issued  a 
notice  (Circular  53)  to  the  effect  that  workmen  in  controlled 
establishments  need  not  fear  that  any  considerable  increase  in 
output  would  lead  to  a  reduction  of  the  piece  rates  then  being 
paid,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  no  change  in  wages  or  piece  rates 
could  be  made  without  his  consent.  He  stated  that  he  was  pre- 
pared to  exercise  his  powers,  if  necessary,  in  order  to  prevent  a 
reduction  of  piece  rates  as  a  consequence  of  the  increase  of  output 
due  to  suspension  of  restrictions.^  ' 

The  amendments  to  the  Munitions  Acts  made  in  January, 
1916,  made  considerable  extensions  in  the  authority  conferred 
upon  the  Minister  of  Munitions  to  regulate  the  wages  of  female 
labor  engaged  in  munitions  work  and  of  semi-skilled  and  un- 

1  British  Industrial  Experience  during  the  War,  vol.  1,  p.  288. 


190  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

skilled  male  laborers  employed  in  controlled  establishments. 
The  substance  of  these  amendments  has  already  been  given  in 
the  chapter  dealing  with  the  Munitions  of  War  Acts/  We  there 
noted  that  the  powers  of  control  extended  much  further  in  the 
case  of  female  laborers  than  in  the  case  of  male  labor. 

Regulation  of  Women's  Wages 

The  regulations  issued  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  relating 
to  the  wages  of  female  laborers  were  numerous,  but  can  be  dealt 
with  here  only  in  condensed  form.'"^ 

Circular  L2  which  had  been  issued  in  October,  1915,  to  con- 
trolled establishments  had  fixed  £1  a  week  as  the  time  rate  for 
women  and  prescribed  the  same  piece  rates  as  for  men.  Lacking 
the  power  to  enforce  these  rates  the  Minister  could  only  recom- 
mend them  to  employers.  After  the  amendment  to  the  act  in 
January,  1916,  the  prescribed  rates  of  this  circular  were  issued 
as  Order  181  (February  24,  1916)  ^  to  establishments  in  engi- 
neering and  allied  industries  and  were  made  binding  on  employ- 
ers in  those  establishments.  The  £1  a  week  was  made  the  mini- 
mum rate  for  piece  workers  as  well  as  time  workers  and  the 
order  stated  that  "  the  principle  upon  which  the  directions 
proceed  is  that — on  systems  of  payment  by  results — equal 
payment  shall  be  made  to  women  as  to  the  men  for  an  equal 
amount  of  work  done."  This  order  applied  only  to  women  doing 
men's  work  and  still  left  open  the  question  as  to  the  wages  of 
women  doing  work  not  recognized  as  men's  work. 

The  Minister  in  March,  1916,  actfng  under  authority  conferred 
by  the  amended  Munitions  Act  appointed  a  special  arbitration 
tribunal  to  deal  with  women's  wages.  To  this  tribunal  were 
promptly  referred  cases  dealing  with  the  wages  of  women  muni- 
tion workers  for  work  not  recognized  as  men's  work.^     The 

1  See  pages  90-94.  98-100. 

2  This  whole  subject  is  fully  covered  in  the  study  in  this  series  by  An- 
drews and  Hobbs  entitled  Economic  Effects  of  the  War  upon  the  Women  and 
Children.     See  chap.  10. 

3  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  397-399. 
*  Ibid.,  pp.  1029-1030. 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  191 

tribunal  issued  awards  which  allowed  a  minimum  wage  of  4y2d. 
per  hour  to  women  time  workers  and  somewhat  more  to  piece 
workers.  Later  these  awards  were  gathered  up  into  a  general 
order  issued  by  the  Minister  of  Munitions  applicable  to  women 
engaged  on  "  munitions  work  of  a  class  which  prior  to  the  war 
was  not  recognized  as  men's  work."  ^  Another  order  (No. 
456)  ^  issued  the  same  day  fixed  rates  of  pay  for  girls  under  18 
when  engaged  on  work  which  prior  to  the  war  was  customarily 
done  by  male  labor  of  18  years  of  age  and  over.  The  time 
rates  prescribed  varied  from  14s.  a  week  for  girls  under  16  to 
18s^  a  week  for  girls  17  years  old  and  the  piece  rates  allowed 
were  from  30  to  10  per  cent  under  those  paid  to  men. 

The  terms  of  Order  447  called  forth  a  vigorous  protest  from 
the  women's  trade  unions.  They  claimed  that  making  the  rate 
of  £1  a  week  a  prescribed  rate  instead  of  a  minimum  rate  was 
contradictory  to  the  promises  made  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George.^  The 
reply  was  that  the  Minister's  promise  was  only  in  regard  to  the 
wages  of  women  on  men's  work.  There  were  also  complaints 
that  no  allowances  had  been  made  for  overtime  and  Sunday 
work  and  that  piece  rate  workers  were  not  allowed  to  earn  more 
than  the  time  rates.  A  supplementary  order  (No.  618)  was 
therefore  issued  on  September  13,  1916,  which  regulated  the 
rates  for  overtime,  Sunday  and  holiday  work  and  which  pro- 
vided that  the  piece  rates  should  be  so  arranged  that  a  woman 
,  or  a  girl  of  ordinary  ability  could  earn  at  least  one  third  more 
than  her  time  rate  for  the  same  class  of  work.* 

When  first  issued  Order  447  had  not  been  made  applicable  to 
all  controlled  establishments,  but  only  to  about  1,400  establish- 
ments engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  armaments  and  ammunition 
ordnance  and  explosives,  shipbuilding  and  the  various  branches 
of  mechanical  engineering.  In  January,  1917,  upon  recommen- 
dation of  the  arbitration  tribunal,  the  Ministry  of  Munitions 
issued  Orders  Nos.  9  and  10  (the  latter  applicable  to  establish- 

1  Order  No.  447  (July  6,  1916).  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp. 
401-402. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  403-404. 

3  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  p.  94. 

*  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  407-408. 


192  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

ments  in  rural  districts)^  which  applied  the  main  provisions  of 
Order  447  to  a  number  of  additional  trades. 

One  of  the  leading  causes  of  complaint  in  connection  with  the 
operation  of  Order  447  was  that  women  were  not  adequately 
paid  when  they  were  doing  only  a  part  of  the  work  of  skilled 
men.  The  women  in  most  cases  had  to  have  the  machines  set 
up  by  skilled  men.  The  trade  unions  held  that  this  should 
not  preclude  their  receiving  the  skilled  men's  rate.  The  employ- 
ers held  that  this  was  unreasonable.  There  was  no  provision 
made  in  Circular  L2  and  the  subsequent  orders  based  thereon 
for  any  rate  for  women  between  the  £1  a  week  and  the  fully 
skilled  tradesmen's  rate  to  women  on  time  work,  nor  was 
there  any  allowance  for  work  of  a  specially  laborious  nature  or 
where  there  were  exceptional  local  conditions. 

To  settle  this  controversy  the  Minister  asked  the  advice  of  the 
Central  Munitions  Labor  Supply  Committee,  which  had  drawn 
up  the  original  Circular  L2.  That  committee  made  recommenda- 
tions which  were  referred  to  the  special  arbitration  tribunal  for 
its  consideration.  The  recommendations  of  the  two  bodies  were 
embodied  in  Order  888  issued  on  January  1,  1917,^  which  fixed 
£1  as  the  lowest  rate  for  a  week's  work  of  48  hours  or  less  and 
an  additional  6d.  per  hour  for  every  hour  up  to  54  hours  per 
week.  Provision  was  made  for  the  payment  of  higher  rates  for 
work  of  a  specially  laborious  or  responsible  nature  or  performed 
under  special  circumstances.  The  specific  rates  of  wages  were 
not  fixed  for  this  work,  but  it  was  to  be  paid  for  "  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  work  and  the  ability  of  the  women." 

The  question  of  the  pay  for  women  employed  on  "  work  cus- 
tomarily done  by  fully  skilled  tradesmen  "  was  not  finally  dealt 
with,  but  it  was  said  that  a  further  order  on  this  subject  would 
be  issued.  This  was  done  on  January  24  on  the  basis  of  arrange- 
ments which  had  been  made  by  the  dilution  commissioner  on 
the  Clyde  and  on  the  Tyne  in  cases  where  women  were  employed 
on   fully   skilled  men's   work.^     Order   49  *   declared   that   "  a 

1  British  hidustrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  417-422. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  415. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  2,  p.  1033. 
*Ibid.,  vol.  1,  pp.  423-427. 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  193 

woman  shall  be  considered  as  not  employed  on  the  work  cus- 
tomarily done  by  fully  skilled  tradesmen,  but  a  part  or  portion 
only  thereof  if  she  does  not  do  the  customary  setting  up,  or 
where  there  is  no  setting  up,  if  she  requires  skilled  supervision 
to  a  degree  beyond  that  customarily  required  by  fully  skilled 
tradesmen  undertaking  the  work  in  question."  The  women  who 
did  only  a  part  of  the  work  customarily  performed  by  skilled 
men  were  to  serve  a  probationary  period  for  three  months  and 
were  not  entided  to  the  full  pay  until  the  end  of  such  period. 
Thereafter,  they  were  to  be  paid  at  the  district  rate  of  the  trades- 
men whose  work  they  were  performing,  but.  where  it  was  neces- 
sary to  incur  extra  cost  for  setting  up  or  skilled  supervision,  the 
employer  was  allowed  to  deduct  from  the  wages  not  more  than 
10  per  cent  to  cover  this  extra  cost.^ 

By  April,  1917,  the  wages  of  women  in  controlled  establish- 
ments had  been  regulated  in  approximately  3,585  establishments 
where  women  and  girls  were  employed  on  men's  work,  in  about 
3,875  establishments  where  women  and  girls  were  employed  on 
work  not  recognized  as  men's  work,  and  in  90  establishments  in 
which  women  and  girls  were  employed  on  wood  work  for  aircraft. 
In  this  last  named  group,  although  the  wages  fixed  in  September, 
1916,  approximated  those  fixed  for  men's  work,  there  was  no 
recognition  of  the  principle,  equal  pay  for  equal  work.  The  air- 
craft industry  had  expanded  enormously  since  the  war  began  and 
"  it  was  felt  that  to  legislate  for  women's  wages  on  the  customs 
existing  prior  to  the  war  might  unduly  hamper  its  development."  ^ 

On  April  4,  1917,  the  Minister  of  Munitions  decided  after 
consultation  with  the  special  arbitration  tribunal,  "  in  view 
of  the  increasing  cost  of  living  and  of  the  general  increase  in 
the  wages  of  men  in  the  engineering  and  shipbuilding  industries," 
to  allow  certain  increases  in  the  wages  of  women  workers  to 
take  effect  from  April  1,  1917.  The  increases  amounted  to  4s. 
a  week  for  women  time  workers  employed  on  men's  work  and 

1  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  i^  425.  A  consolidated  and  amended 
order  relating  to  women's  wages  was  issued  Mav  8,  1918.  Reprinted  in 
Labour  Gazette,  1918,  pp.  255-257. 

2  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  2,  p.  1032.  See  also  Andrews  and 
Hobbs,  he.  cit.,  pp.  98-99. 


194  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

Id.  per  hour  for  those  employed  on  work  not  recognized  as  men's 
work,  with  corresponding  adjustments  in  the  wages  for  girls 
and  for  piece  workers.^ 

Another  advance  in  the  wages  of  women  and  girls  employed 
on  munitions  work  was  made  on  August  16,  1917.^  The  increase 
amounted  to  2s.  6d.  a  week  for  women  18  years  of  age  and  over 
and  Is.  3d.  per  week  for  girls  under  18.  They  applied  to  both 
time  and  piece  workers  and  were  payable  to  all  women  and  girls 
over  their  weekly  earnings.  The  advances  were  intended  to 
meet  the  increased  cost  of  living  and  were  made  as  a  result  of 
representations  made  by  several  trade  unions.  It  was  understood 
at  this  time  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  men  munition  workers  in 
the  engineering  trades,  women  munition  workers  would  have  the 
right  to  have  their  wages  reviewed  by  the  Committee  on  Produc- 
tion or  other  tribunal  every  four  months  and  have  them  adjusted 
to  the  change  in  the  cost  of  living.^ 

A  new  order  (No.  546)  in  respect  to  women's  wages  was 
issued  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  on  May  8,  1918,  which 
besides  consolidating  existing  orders  made  certain  changes  in 
the  rates  of  pay,  usually  in  the  way  of  an  advance  over  previous 
rates.     Some  of  the  important  alterations  are  as  follows: 

(a)  Higher  wages  are  authorized  for  work  especially  danger- 
ous, laborious  or  responsible. 

(b)  The  principle  of  differential  time  rates  for  time  workers 
and  those  on  systems  of  payment  for  results  has  been  abolished. 

The  percentage  over  time  rates  which  piece  work  prices  or 
premium  bonus  time  allowances  are  required  to  yield  has  been 
altered  from  33  1/3  to  25  per  cent. 

(c)  Special  rates  have  been  fixed  for  wood  work  processes 
and  for  aircraft  work  which  yield  to  the  women  workers  not 
less  than  6d.  per  hour.* 

The  trade  unions  have  criticized  the  government  for  fixing 
standard  rather  than  minimum  rates  of  wages  for  women  work- 

1  Circular  L85,  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  428-432. 

2  Order  893.    Ibid.,  p.  453. 

3  Christian  Science  Monitor,  September  6,  1917,  quoted  in  Monthly  Review 
of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  October,  1917,  p.  83. 

*  Monthly  Labor  Review,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  August,  1918, 
pp.  160-161. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  195 

ers,  but  the  government  has  defended  the  practice  and  claims 
that  experience  has  justified  its  adoption.  The  women  workers 
are  for  the  most  part  unorganized  and  advances  in  wages  come 
to  them  not  through  collective  bargaining  but  through  a  com- 
pulsory order. 

If  the  orders  had  fixed  minimum  rates  there  would  have  been  a  tendency 
for  women  to  agitate  that  they  should  be  increased  on  any  and  every  pre- 
text on  the  principle  that  having  got  so  much  by  no  effort  of  their  own  they 
should  be  able  to  double  their  emoluments  by  determined  agitation.  More- 
over, many  of  the  conditions  under  which  women  are  employed  on  munitions 
work  must  necessarily  be  of  a  temporary  nature  and  continue  only  for  the 
war  period.  It  is  of  advantage  both  to  employers  and  employed  to  divide 
the  work  done  by  women  into  two  broad  classes  for  which  both  parties  know 
definitely  the  rate  that  will  be  paid.' 

In  spite  of  the  considerable  increases  which  have  been  made 
from  time  to  time  in  the  wages  of  women  munition  workers  the 
women's  organizations  claim  that  the  advances  in  wages  lag  so 
far  behind  the  advances  in  prices  that  the  government  standard 
wages  have  about  the  same  purchasing  power  that  the  minimum 
rates  fixed  for  the  sweated  trades  had  before  the  war.  The 
increase  in  the  cost  of  the  items  entering  into  the  ordinary 
working  man's  budget  had  been  about  75  per  cent  between 
July,  1914,  and  June,  1917,  so  that  the  average  rate  for  women 
workers  which  the  Minister  of  Munitions  said  in  June,  1917,  was 
25s.  would  have  the  same  purchasing  power  as  14s.  would  have 
had  in  1914.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  steady 
employment  and  the  overtime  worked  have  meant  that  the 
earnings  of  women  have  been  greater  than  before  the  war,  even 
though  it  be  admitted  that  the  overtime  is  undesirable.  It  must 
also  be  admitted  that  the  rates  of  pay  of  women  in  the  controlled 
establishments  are  higher  than  in  uncontrolled  establishments 
for  the  same  kinds  of  work.  Recognition  of  this  fact  has  caused 
the  women's  organizations  to  demand  that  the  government  rates 
be  extended  to  all  work  on  government  contracts.^  Other 
government  departments,  it  is  said,  have  not  been  as  generous 

1  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  2.  p.  1036. 

2  Mary  Conyngton,  "  Women  in  the  Munition  Trades,"  Monthly  Review. 
May,  1918,  p.  156. 


196  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 

as  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  in  the  matter  of  women's  wages, 
though  the  Admiralty  has  generally  advanced  its  rates  to  the 
level  of  the  munitions  trades.  The  Post  Office  Department  has 
made  its  wage  increases  in  the  form  of  war  bonuses  and  these 
have  been  larger  for  men  than  for  women.  The  strongest  com- 
plaints have  been  made  in  regard  to  female  clerks  working  under 
civil  service  rules  whose  weekly  wages  were  only  from  20s.  to 
26s.  for  clerical  work  and  30s.  for  supervisions,  The  women 
were  also  receiving  much  less  than  men  received  for  similar 
work.^ 

In  those  private  industries  in  which  minimum  wage  rates  are 
fixed  by  trade  boards  under  the  Act  of  1909,  the  minimum  rates 
have  been  advanced  in  an  effort  to  meet  the  increases  in  the  cost 
of  living.  Although  considerable  advances  were  made  by  the 
tailoring,  confectionery  and  tin  box  boards,  it  does  not  appear 
that  the  increases  had  been  sufficient  to  make  up  for  the  decreased 
purchasing  power  of  money.^  Although  the  scope  of  several 
boards  has  been  widened  during  the  war  no  new  boards  have 
been  set  up,  except  the  agricultural  wages  boards  provided  by  the 
Corn  Production  Act  of  August  21,  1917.^  Although  these  agri- 
cultural boards  are  to  fix  minimum  wages  for  women  as  well  as 
for  men  the  legal  requirement  that  these  rates  must  be  such  as 
will  yield  to  the  worker  an  average  of  at  least  25s.  a  week  does 
not  apply  to  women. 

In  those  trades  in  which  women  are  employed  and  in  which 
there  are  strong  labor  organizations  the  efforts  of  the  unions  to 
protect  their  wage  standards  have  generally  led  to  agreements 
whereby  women  substituted  for  men  are  to  be  paid  the  men's 
rates.  These  agreements  have  been  of  special  importance  on 
the  railways  and  in  the  cotton,  woolen  and  worsted,  china  and 
earthenware,  and  boot  and  shoe  industries  and  have  improved 
materially  the  position  of  the  women  workers.* 

1  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  p.  104. 

^Ibid..  pp.  101-102. 

3  As  explained  later  (pages  307-308)  legislation  has  been  enacted  in  1918 
making  possible  the  extension  of  the  trade  boards  without  necessitating 
Parliament  sanction  in  each  case. 

*  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  pp.  102-103. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  197 

In  those  trades  in  which  there  are  neither  legal  regulations 
nor  trade  agreements,  the  wages  of  women  workers  have 
advanced  from  time  to  time  because  of  the  growing  scarcity  of 
labor,  but  "  there  is  no  reason  whatever  to  suppose  that  the  rates 
approximate  to  the  rates  of  the  men  displaced."  ^  The  smallest 
increases  in  women's  wages  appear  to  have  been  in  those  trades 
which  employed  large  numbers  of  women  prior  to  the  war.  Here 
the  influence  of  custom  and  the  natural  desire  on  the  part  of 
employers  not  to  spoil  the  labor  market  have  prevented  increases 
in  wages  except  such  as  have  been  necessary  to  prevent  the 
workers  from  transferring  to  the  munitions  and  other  trades. 
Such  increases  as  have  been  granted  have  generally  taken  the 
form  of  war  bonuses.^ 


Regulation  of  Men's  Wages 

The  problem  of  the  regulation  of  men's  wages  has  been  much 
simpler  than  that  of  women's  wages,  because  of  the  more  limited 
scope  of  the  regulations. 

No  regulations  of  men's  wages  were  authorized  by  law  until 
after  the  passage  of  the  Munitions  of  War  (Amendment)  Act, 
1916.  Section  7  of  that  act  empowered  the  Minister  of  Muni- 
tions "  to  give  directions  as  to  the  rate  of  wages,  hours  of  labor 
or  conditions  of  employment  of  semi-skilled  and  unskilled  men 
employed  in  any  controlled  establishment  on  munitions  work, 
being  work  of  a  class  which  prior  to  the  war  was  customarily 
undertaken  by  skilled  labor,  or  as  to  the  time  rates  for  the 
manufacture  of  complete  shells  and  fuses  and  cartridge  cases  in 
any  controlled  establishment  in  which  such  manufacture  was  not 
customary  prior  to  the  war."  All  such  directions  were  binding 
on  the  owners  of  such  establishments  and  on  the  contractors  and 
subcontractors  employing  labor  therein.  Prior  to  the  passage 
of  this  amendment,  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  had  attempted  to 
control  the  matter  of  remuneration  of  semi-skilled  labor,  when 

1  The  Position  of  Women  after  the  War,  p.  8. 

2  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  p.  105. 


198  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

substituted  for  skilled  labor,  by  means  of  Circular  L3  issued  in 
October,  1915,  at  the  same  time  as  Circular  L2  dealing  with 
women's  wages  was  put  out.  Both  circulars  were  prepared  by  the 
Central  Munitions  and  Labor  Supply  Committee  and  their  pro- 
visions could  in  the  nature  of  things  only  be  of  an  advisory 
character.  After  the  amendment  to  the  Munitions  of  War  Act 
these  provisions  of  Circular  L3  were  made  mandatory  by  the 
issue  of  Order  182.' 

By  the  terms  of  this  order  semi-skilled  and  unskilled  male 
laborers  employed  to  do  the  work  of  skilled  labor  were  to  be 
paid  the  same  time  rates,  piece  prices  and  premium  bonus  rates 
as  were  customarily  paid  when  the  work  was  performed  by 
skilled  labor.  These  rates  were  not  to  be  altered  unless  the 
means  or  methods  of  manufacture  were  changed,  and  all 
overtime,  night  shift,  Sunday  labor  and  holiday  allowances  were 
to  be  paid  on  the  same  basis  as  fpr  skilled  laborers.  In  the  case 
of  time  ratings  for  the  manufacture  of  complete  shells  and 
fuses  and  cartridges,  where  such  manufacture  was  not  custom- 
arily undertaken  by  an  establishment  before  the  war,  the  rates 
were  fixed  at  10s.  below  the  current  district  rates  for  turners, 
but  were  not  to  be  lower  than  28s.  a  week,  except  that  the 
starting  rate  for  inexperienced  men  might  be  26s.  for  a  period 
not  longer  than  two  months.  Extra  sums  were  to  be  paid  for 
setting  up,  fuse  making  and  shell  making  machines.  This  order 
was  not  regarded  as  of  great  importance  as  the  work  of  machin- 
ing shells,  fuses  and  cartridge  cases  has  been  done  for  the  most 
part  by  Women  and  the  other  work  covered  by  the  order  has 
usually  been  dealt  with  by  agreement  between  the  unions  and 
employers,  for  the  order  was  not  intended  to  prevent  or  dis- 
courage collective  bargaining.  Whenever  such  an  agreement 
has  been  made  between  an  employers'  federation  and  a  trade 
union  the  wages  fixed  by  such  agreement  become  the  district 
rate  for  this  class  of  work  and  any  of  the  federated  firms  which 
are  controlled  are  free  to  give  effect  to  the  agreement  without 
awaiting  the  sanction  of  the  Minister.^     A  special  tribunal  to 

1  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  454. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  2,  p.  1038. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  199 

deal  with  cases  in  dispute  coming  within  the  scope  of  the  order 
was  constituted  in  March,  1916,  at  the  same  time  and  having  the 
same  chairman  as  the  tribunal  for  women's  wages.  Very  few 
cases  involving  men's  wages  have  been  referred  to  it.* 

Complaints  were  made  by  employes  in  non federated  con- 
trolled establishments  and  by  employers  in  the  federated  ones 
that  they  were  suffering  discriminations  as  a  result  of  the  appli- 
cation of  awards  raising  wages  in  the  federated  establishments. 
An  interview  was  sought  with  the  Minister  of  Munitions,  who, 
after  considering  the  matter,  informed  the  parties  on  February 
26,  1917,  that  he  "  was  prepared  to  take  such  steps  as  may  be 
necessary  to  secure  that  any  award  given  in  the  trade  in  question 
shall  be  applied  to  non  federate  controlled  establishments." 
Later  this  rule  was  incorporated  in  the  Munitions  of  War  Act, 
1917.  The  movement  for  the  standardization  of  wages  made 
rapid  progress  during  the  year  1917  and  an  agreement  was 
reached  between  associations  of  employers  and  of  employes  in 
the  engineering  and  foundry  trades  that  wages  should  be  settled 
by  arbitration  at  four  month  intervals  during  the  war — in 
February,  June  and  October.^  In  this  way  it  was  hoped  that  it 
would  be  possible  to  adjust  wages  to  the  changes  in  the  cost  of 
living. 

In  September,  1917,  the  Minister  of  Munitions  extended  to 
various  engineering  and  foundry  trades  in  England  and  Scotland 
the  terms  of  an  award  of  the  Committee  on  Production,  allowing 
a  bonus  of  3s.  per  week  for  men  and  Is.  6d.  for  boys  under  18, 
these  bonuses  "to  be  regarded  as  war  advances  intended  to 
assist  in  meeting  the  increased  cost  of  living  and  are  to  be 
recognized  as  due  to  and  dependent  on  the  existence  of  the 
abnormal  conditions  now  prevailing  in  consequence  of  the 
war."  ^  Bonuses  of  5s.  for  men  and  2s.  6d.  for  boys  were  allowed 
in  several  trades  in  September  to  date  from  April  1,  1917."*  A 
bonus  of  12%  per  cent  on  earnings  was  allowed  "  fully  qualified 

*  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  2,  p.  1037. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  1039. 

3  fbid.,  vol.  1.  pp.  462-470. 

*  fbid.,  pp.  470-473. 


200  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

skilled  engineers  and  molders  "  in  October,  19 IT.':  The  same 
allowance  was  made  to  "  plain  time  workers  in  the  shipbuilding 
and  munitions  trades  "  by  the  War  Cabinet  towards  the  close  of 
1917.=^ 

A  movement  which  has  made  considerable  progress  in  Great 
Britain  during  the  war,  although  it  has  had  to  meet  the  opposing 
traditions  of  the  trade  unions,  is  the  adoption  of  the  system  of 
payment  by  results.  The  shipbuilding  trades  have  agreed  to 
accept  the  principle  and  the  rates  of  pay  are  to  be  fixed  by  agree- 
ments arranged  by  district  conferences  of  employers  and  em- 
ployes. In  many  individual  establishments  the  necessity  for 
increased  output  has  also  led  to  the  introduction  of  various 
systems  of  piece  work  for  different  occupations.  The  chief 
difficulties  encountered  are  said  to  be  (1)  the  fixing  of  prices 
for  piece  work  and  of  the  time  period  for  premium  results;  and 
(2)  the  application  of  payment  by  results  to  groups  of  workers 
to  whom  individual  piece  work  or  premium  bonus  is  unsuited. 
It  was  said  in  the  official  reports  on  this  subject  that  the  first 
difficulty  seemed  best  met  by  "  skilled  rate  fixing  and  publicity 
as  to  the  methods  of  wage  payment  and  the  changes  therein. 
The  second  difficulty,  it  was  said,  had  been  overcome  by  "  the 
institution  of  various  kinds  of  collective  or  overhead  bonuses."  ' 
The  system  of  payment  by  results  and  the  difficulties  of  adjust- 
ing wages  under  this  system  in  a  way  satisfactory  to  the  piece 
workers  themselves  and  as  between  piece  and  time  rate  workers 
was  one  of  the  causes  of  industrial  unrest  which  was  reported 
on  by  the  commissions  appointed  *in  1917  to  deal  with  that 
subject.* 

Cost  of  Living 

It  is  impossible  on  the  basis  of  available  information  to 
present  here  any  accurate  comparison  of  the  changes  which  have 
taken  place  during  the  war  in  the  wages  or  earnings  of  the  work- 

^  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  474-475. 

2  Labour  Gazette,  1918,  p.  6. 

3  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  2,  p.  1039. 
•*  See  below,  chap.  ix. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  201 

ing  classes  and  of  the  cost  of  the  commodities  which  must  largely 
enter  into  the  consumption  of  the  ordinary  working  man's  family. 
Index  numbers  are  available  which  show  the  rate  of  increase  in 
the  prices  of  food  and  there  is  some  information  concerning  the 
prices  of  other  commodities.  Index  numbers  are  lacking  which 
would  show  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  prices  of  labor. 

The  index  numbers  for  the  wholesale  prices  of  47  selected 
commodities,  taking  the  year  1900  as  the  basis,  represented  by 
the  number  100.  show  an  advance  from  113.6  for  the  first  seven 
months  of  1914  to  143.8  for  the  year  1915,  186.5  for  1916  and 
242.9  for  1917.*  On  the  same  basis  the  index  numbers  showing 
retail  prices  of  food,  weighted  in  accordance  with  the  proportion- 
ate expenditures  in  prewar  budgets,  show  an  increase  up  to 
July  1,  1918,  of  114  per  cent  in  the  large  towns,  106  per  cent 
in  the  small  towns  and  110  per  cent  throughout  the  kingdom, 
over  the  prices  for  July,  1914.^ 

In  spite  of  very  rapid  advances  in  wages  during  the  war,  as 
shown  in  the  early  pages  of  this  chapter,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
such  advances  have  been  anywhere  near  equal  to  the  above  in- 
creases in  either  wholesale  or  retail  prices.  When  pay  for  over- 
time, Sundays  and  holidays,  besides  the  greater  regularity  of 
employment,  are  taken  into  consideration,  perhaps  the  economic 
situation  of  the  English  working  man  or  working  woman  is  not 
materially  worse  than  it  was  before  the  war,  but  if  so,  this 
means  that  it  requires  more  effort  to  maintain  the  same  standard 
of  living.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  old  standard  is  not  being 
maintained,  but  substitutes  have  been  made  for  commodities 
largely  consumed  before  the  war.  The  Labour  Gazette  calls 
attention  to  changes  in  dietary  which  have  been  made  and  says 
in  relation  to  the  above  changes  in  the  retail  prices  of  food: 

If  eggs  were  omitted  from  the  dietary,  margarine  substituted  for  butter 
and  the  consumption  of  sugar  and  fish  reduced  to  one-half  of  that  prevail- 
ing before  the  war,  the  general  percentage  increase  between  July,  1914,  and 
the  1st  of  January,  1918,  instead  of  being  106,  would  be  59.^ 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1918,  p.  5. 

2  J  hid.,  p.  266. 

3  Jhid..  p.  5.  By  July  1,  1918,  this  number  would  have  been  67.  Labour 
Gazette,  1918.  p.  26. 


202  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

If  this  statement  is  intended  to  show  how  a  laboring  man  may 
be  able  to  modify  his  diet  so  as  to  meet  the  increase  in  the  cost 
of  food,  it  may  possess  interest  and  value,  but  if  it  is  presented  to 
indicate  that  such  changes  nullify  or  render  of  no  account  actual 
changes  in  purchasing  power,  it  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  a 
man's  standard  of  living  is  in  no  danger  of  being  lowered  as  long 
as  he  is  able  to  practice  economies  and  make  use  of  substitutes. 

Of  much  more  significance,  as  showing  that  the  above  figures 
do  not  necessarily  mean  that  the  advances  in  food  prices  have 
made  the  position  of  the  working  man  a  precarious  one,  is  the. 
statement  in  the  Gazette  that  rents  of  working  class  dwellings 
are  not  appreciably  higher  than  before  the  war  and  that  many 
other  items  of  expenditure  have  not  advanced,  on  the  average, 
as  much  as  that  for  food.  The  Gazette  has  endeavored  to  esti- 
mate the  extent  of  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  living,  taking  the 
working  man's  family  budget  as  a  whole. 

The  increase  from  July,  1914,  to  January  1,  1918,  in  the  cost  of  all  the 
items  ordinarily  entering  into  the  working  class  family  expenditure,  including 
food,  rent,  clothing,  fuel  and  light,  etc.,  may  be  estimated  at  between  80  and 
85  per  cent,  taking  the  same  quantities  of  the  various  items  at  each  date  and 
eliminating  advances  arising  from  increased  taxation,  and  between  85  and  90 
per  cent,  if  increases  due  to  taxation  are  included.^  By  July  1,  1918,  the  gen- 
eral'increase  is  estimated  at  between  100  and  105  per  cent  including  taxation 
and  about  7  per  cent  less  "if  the  amount  of  increased  taxation  on  com- 
modities is  deducted.2 

In  July,  1917,  one  of  the  eight  commissions  appointed  by  the 
Prime  Minister  to  investigate  the  causes  of  industrial  unrest 
quoted  the  Labour  Gazette  as  authority  for  the  statement  that 
between  July,  1914,  and  June,  1917,  the  increase  in  the  cost  of 
food  amounted  to  102  per  cent,  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  living 
from  70  to  75  per  cent,  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  food  on  "  an 
economical  basis  "  to  70  per  cent,  while  with  regard  to  wages 
the  commission  says :  "  The  highest  figures  put  before  us  only 
showed  an  increase  in  earnings  of  something  like  40  or  50  per 
cent  of  prewar  rates."  ' 

'^Labour  Gazette,  1918,  p.  5. 

2  Ihid.,  p.  266. 

3  Industrial  Unrest  in  Great  Britain.  Bulletin  No.  237  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  p.  47. 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  203 

On  September  1,  1916,  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
appointed  a  departmental  committee  "  to  investigate  the  prin- 
cipal causes  which  have  led  to  the  increase  of  prices  of  com- 
modities of  general  consumption  since  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
and  to  recommend  such  steps,  if  any,  with  a  view  to  ameliorating 
the  situation,  as  appear  practicable  and  expedient,  having  regard 
to  the  necessity  of  maintaining  suppHes.  The  committee  made 
an  interim  report  in  about  three  weeks  from  the  date  of  its 
appointment,  in  which  it  noted  the  increases  in  prices  which  we 
have  mentioned  and,  while  they  admitted  that  the  rates  of  wages 
had  not  kept  pace  with  the  increase  in  prices  of  food  and  other 
necessaries,  they  concluded  that  after  taking  into  account  greater 
regularity  of  employment,  additional  overtime,  night  work,  etc. : 

There  is  less  total  distress  in  the  country  than  in  an  ordinary  year  of 
peace,  the  majority  of  the  classes  which  chronically  suffer  from  distress 
being  in  unusually  regular  employment,  and  that  this,  together  with  the 
higher  wages  earned  by,  and  greater  needs  of,  so  many  skilled  and  unskilled 
workers  employed  directly  and  indirectly  in  the  production  of  munitions  of 
war,  has  tended  to  increase  considerably,  in  some  directions,  the  total  de- 
mand for  food.  On  the  other  hand,  certain  classes  normally  in  regular  em- 
ployment, whose  earnings  have  not  risen  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  cost 
of  living — for  example,  the  cotton  operatives  and  some  classes  of  day 
wage  workers  and  laborers — are  hard  pressed  by  the  rise  in  prices  and 
actually  have  to  curtail  their  consumption,  even  though  the  pressure  of  high 
prices  may  have  been  mitigated  in  some  cases  by  the  employment  of  mem- 
bers of  a  family  in  munition  works  and  by  the  opening  of  better  paid  oc- 
cupations to  women.i 

With  reference  to  the  prices  of  meat,  milk  and  bacon,  the  only 
commodities  dealt  with  in  this  interim  report,  the  committee 
made  various  recommendations  having  to  do  with  the  increase  of 
shipping  and  refrigerating  facilities,  prohibition  of  the  slaughter 
of  young  live  stock,  increased  use  of  women  for  milking  and 
dairy  work,  government  or  local  control  over  the  distribution 
and  prices  of  meats  and  milk,  and  increased  economies  in  the 
supply  of  meat  to  the  army.^  Seven  of  the  twelve  members  of 
the  committee  also  signed  a  memorandum  in  which  they  recom- 
mended that  the  government  "  enlarge  its  purchases  of  meat  and 

1  Board  of  Trade,  Departmental  Committee  on  Prices.  Interim  report  on 
meat,  milk  and  bacon.    Quoted  in  Monthly  Review,  January,  1917,  p.  51. 

2  Monthly  Review,  January,  1917,  p.  55. 


204  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

bacon  from  outside  sources  and,  where  possible,  become  the  sole 
purchaser,  and  should  insist  upon  the  purchasing  public  getting 
the  full  benefit  of  advantageous  buying."  It  was  further  recom- 
mended that  a  large  measure  of  public  control  be  exercised  over 
home  supplies  and  that  reasonable  prices  be  fixed.  The  action 
which  the  government  was  taking  with  reference  to  coal  and 
wool  it  was  thought  might  well  be  extended  to  meat,  bacon  and 
milk.^ 

This  is  not  the  place  to  describe  the  methods  by  which  the 
British  Government  has  undertaken  to  exercise  control  over  the 
production,  prices  and  distribution  of  foodstuffs  in  order  to  meet 
the  needs  of  both  the  military  forces  and  the  civil  population. 
It  sufifices  to  say  that  control  has  been  exercised  in  many  ways, 
by  stimulating  increased  production  at  home,  by  direct  govern- 
mental purchases  either  alone  or  in  cooperation  with  her  allies 
of  imported  food  supplies,  by  control  of  shipping  with  a  view  to 
increasing  the  importation  of  food  and  lessening  that  of  less 
needed  commodities,  by  prescribing  maximum  prices  of  the  com- 
modities whose  supplies  could  be  controlled,  by  compulsory 
rationing  of  sugar  and  later  of  meat,  flour  and  bread,  by  pre- 
scribing methods  of  manufacture  of  flour,  bread,  etc.,  by  en- 
couraging economy  in  the  use  of  food,  by  regulating  the  price 
and  distribution  of  milk,  by  limiting  the  use  of  grain  for  the 
manufacture  of  alcoholic  liquors,  by  the  establishment  of  meat- 
less days,  by  the  promotion  of  vegetable  gardening  and  keeping 
of  pigs  by  cottagers  and  by  licensing  the  manufacture  and  sale 
of  food.^ 

The  steps  taken  by  the  Ministry  of  Food  to  carry  out  the 
recommendations  of  the  commissions  on  industrial  unrest  with 
regard  to  the  control  which  the  government  should  exercise  over 
the  prices  and  distribution  of  food  are  dealt  with  in  the  follow- 
ing chapter.^  The  government  has  also  fixed  the  price  of  coal 
at  the  pit's  mouth  *  and  has  forbidden  any  increase  in  the  rent 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1916,  p.  364. 

2  These  methods  are  described  in  the  Monthly  Review  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  March.  1917,  pp.  392-407;  June,  1917;  pp.  928- 
945,  and  December.  1917.  pp.  100-101. 

3  Pages  264-265.  See  also  British  Industrial  Experience, vo\.2,pp.  1100-1101. 
*  Act  of  July  25,  1915.    British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  899. 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  205 

of  small  dwelling  houses  or  of  the  rate  of  interest  on  mortgages 
on  such  dwellings/  While  these  measures  have  not  prevented  a 
continuation  of  the  rise  of  prices,  especially  of  food,  they  do 
show  that  the  government  has  seriously  concerned  itself  with  the 
problem  and  its  measures  have  doubtless  provided  a  more  equit- 
able distribution  of  the  supplies  available  than  would  have  taken 
place  without  regulation.  Control  over  the  prices  of  commodities 
can  not  well  be  made  effective  unless  control  can  be  had  at  the 
same  time  of  the  supply  and  (or)  demand  forces.  Many  of  these 
forces  are  not  under  government  control  or  can  not  be  exercised 
in  war  times  without  affecting  detrimentally  other  and  more  im- 
portant matters.  The  real  causes  for  the  increase  in  the  prices 
of  food  are  well  stated  in  the  report  of  Hon.  G.  N.  Barnes,  set- 
ting forth  the  steps  which  the  Ministry  of  Food  had  taken  to 
comply  with  the  recommendations  of  the  commissions  of  indus- 
trial unrest.  "  Why  prices  are  high. — Increased  currency  causes 
an  increased  demand  for  goods.  If  currency  is  multiplied  faster 
than  the  supply  of  commodities,  the  result  is  a  rise  in  prices.  If 
the  increase  of  currency  is  accompanied  by  an  actual  falling  off 
in  the  supply  of  commodities,  the  rise  will  be  very  marked. 
Assuming  money  to  mean  everything  which  is  accepted  in  pay- 
ment for  goods,  there  is  probably  more  money  in  circulation  in 
the  country  than  ever  before,  and  a  great  deal  of  this  money  is 
spent  in  buying  food.  For  various  reasons  there  is  actually  less 
food  to  buy ;  there  is  increased  consumption  by  the  armies  in  the 
field;  there  is  reduced  production  owing  to  shortage  of  labor  at 
home;  ships  carrying  foodstuffs  are  sunk,  and  there  is  a  scarcity 
of  available  tonnage  to  bring  in  more  food."  * 

Hours  of  Labor 

We  have  already  shown  how  employers  early  in  the  war  began 
to  make  use  of  overtime  as  a  means  of  increasing  production  and 
of  making  good  the  shortage  of  labor  caused  by  the  recruiting 
campaign.    We  have  also  noticed  that  the  government  felt  that 

1  Act  of  December  23.  1915.    British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  859. 
^Ibid..  vol.  2,  pp.  1101-1102. 


206  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  need  for  munitions  was  so  urgent  that  it  was  necessary  to 
relax  the  laws  restricting  the  hours  of  employment  of  women  and 
young  persons  which  had  been  built  up  through  a  long  series  of 
years  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  health  and  morals  of 
these  classes  of  persons.  Since  the  laws  relate  only  to  women 
and  children  and  since  the  subject  of  hours  of  labor,  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  these  classes  of  persons,  is  dealt  with  in  another 
monograph  of  this  series,^  it  will  not  be  necessary  here  to  review 
at  length  the  evidence  on  which  the  government  has  acted  to 
restore  the  legal  restrictions  which  had  been  so  hastily  withdrawn 
in  order  to  meet  an  emergency.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  in 
reimposing  this  restrictive  legislation  and  in  some  cases  even 
extending  it,  the  authorities  have  not  been  governed  by  senti- 
mental considerations  of  even  primarily  by  considerations  affect- 
ing the  health  and  welfare  of  the  working  classes,  but  the  investi- 
gations which  have  been  made  by  government  order  and  the 
regulations  which  have  been  imposed,  following  these  investi- 
gations, have  been  dictated  primarily  by  the  consideration  as  to 
what  scale  of  hours  is  likely  to  give  the  largest  amount  of  pro- 
duction. 

At  first  the  reports  of  the  factory  inspectors  were  very  op- 
timistic as  to  the  effect  of  the  partial  removal  of  the  restrictions 
on  the  hours  of  labor  of  women.  The  patriotism  of  the  workers 
and  their  desire  to  do  their  part  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
caused  them  not  only  to  accept  willingly  enough  the  extension  of 
the  permissible  hours  of  labor,  but  to  work  with  "  a  spirit  of 
sustained,  untiring  effort  never  seen  before  and  most  admirable." 
The  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  and  Workshops  in  his  report 
for  1914,^  reported  that  there  was  "  a  noticeable  absence  in  all  the 
reports  from  the  inspectors  of  any  evidence  of  increased  sick- 
ness," and  while  it  was  admitted  that  in  some  trades  it  was  found 
necessary  to  reduce  overtime  because  of  the  strain  imposed,  he 
was  able  to  reach  the  following  conclusion :  "  Looking  at  the 
question  as  a  whole,  it  is  probably  safe  to  say  that,  whatever  may 
be  the  future  effects  of  so  prolonged  a  strain,  there  is  at  present 

*  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit. 
^Ante,  pp.  54-57. 


WAGES,    COST    OF   LIVING,    ETC.  207 

no  sign  that  workers  have  been  injuriously  affected."  At  this 
time  the  general  order  of  the  Chief  Inspector's  department  per- 
mitted overtime  for  women  and  boys  over  16  of  5  hours  a  week 
or  7/4  hours  in  munitions  establishments  under  certain  condi- 
tions as  to  meal  hours.  The  orders  also  permitted  women  and 
young  persons  to  be  employed  at  night,  a  return  to  a  condition 
which  had  been  abolished  by  law  in  1844  and  by  international 
agreement  in  1906.  The  conclusions  of  the  inspectors  with 
regard  to  the  effects  of  overtime  on  production  at  this  time  were 
that  "  while  long  and  even  excessive  hours  can  be  worked  with 
advantage  for  short  periods,  continued  overtime,  if  not  kept 
within  proper  limits,  soon  fails  in  its  object  and  ceases  to  aid 
production."  ^ 

Before  many  months  had  passed  a  change  in  the  character  of 
the  reports  as  to  the  effects  of  overtime  work  is  noticeable.  Not 
only  the  inspectors,  but  in  many  cases  the  employers,  were  be- 
ginning to  note  a  falling  off  in  production  and  were  beginning 
to  question  the  wisdom  of  overtime  work.  More  sickness  among 
the  operatives  was  noticeable  and  even  when  the  employes  were 
not  sick  they  did  not  present  themselves  regularly  for  employ- 
ment. 

The  government  had  not  satisfied  itself  with  exempting  from 
the  provisions  of  the  factory  acts  those  factories  which  be- 
longed to  the  Crown  or  were  engaged  on  work  for  the  govern- 
ment, but  had,  under  authority  of  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Acts, 
extended  the  scope  of  exemption  to  "  any  factory  or  workshop 
in  which  the  Secretary  of  State  is  satisfied  that  by  reason  of  the 
loss  of  men  through  enlistment  or  transference  to  government 
service,  or  of  other  circumstances  arising  out  of  the  present  war, 
exemption  is  necessary  to  secure  the  carrying  on  of  work  required 
in  the  national  interest."  This  increased  very  greatly  the  scope 
of  exemption  and  led  to  a  rush  of  applications  to  be  allowed  to 
work  overtime.  It  was  noticeable,  however,  said  the  Chief  In- 
spector,^ that  there  was  a  "  marked  reduction  in  the  amount  of 
latitude  sought  and  allowed."    There  were  few  applications  for 

*  Report  of  Chief  Inspector  for  1914,  p.  60. 

2  Annual  Reoort  of  Chief  Inspector  for  1915,  p.  8. 


208  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

permission  to  work  on  Sundays  and  requests  for  Saturday  after- 
noon work  were  less  common.  The  limits  of  overtime  allowed 
by  the  general  order  of  the  department  remained  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding year,  with  special  orders  for  large  munition  firms  which 
allowed  somewhat  more  than  the  usual  amount.  Even  among 
these  firms  there  was  a  distinct  tendency  to  reduce  the  hours  of 
work.  Sunday  labor  had  been  found  particularly  unsatis- 
factory, for  it  resulted  in  a  loss  of  time  on  other  days  of  the 
week.^ 

In  September,  1915,  the  Minister  of  Munitions  appointed  a 
Health  of  Munition  Workers  Committee  to  consider  and  advise 
on  questions  of  industrial  fatigue,  hours  of  labor,  and  other 
matters  affecting  the  personal  health  and  physical  efficiency  of 
workers  in  munition  factories  and  workshops.  The  Chairman 
of  the  committee  was  Sir  George  Newman,  M.D.,  and  the  other 
members  of  the  committee  represented  not  only  the  medical  pro- 
fession, but  the  factory  inspector's  office,  the  trade  unions  and 
the  employing  interests.  The  committee  made  its  first  report  in 
November,  1915,  and  has  continued  to  make  reports  from  time 
to  time  during  the  war.  Its  conclusions  have  been  reached  on 
the  basis  not  only  of  oral  testimony  from  managers,  foremen 
and  workers,  but  on  numerous  special  studies  and  investigations, 
and  its  findings  have  been  mainly  responsible  for  modifications 
made  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  and  other  departments  in 
their  orders  relating  to  production  and  to  the  health  and  safety 
of  workers. 

The  first  report  (Memorandum  1)  related  to  Sunday  labor. 
The  committee  found  that  "  the  great  majority  of  the  employers 
consulted  are  unfavorably  disposed  to  Sunday  labor."  They 
found  that  supervision  was  difficult  and  imposed  a  severe  strain 
on  the  foremen,  that  it  meant  high  wages  and  an  unsatisfactory 
output  and  they  felt  that  "  the  seventh  day,  as  a  period  of  rest, 
is  good  for  body  and  mind."  The  testimony  of  trade  unionists 
showed  that  though  a  high  rate  of  wages  had  made  Sunday  labor 
popular  for  a  time,  the  men  were  beginning  to  feel  the  need  of 
more  rest  and  that  this  need  was  responsible  for  much  of  the  lost 

1  Annual  Report  of  Chief  Inspector,  1915. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  209 

time.  The  committee  concluded  that:  "  The  evidence  before  the 
committee  has  led  them  strongly  to  hold  that  if  the  maximum 
output  is  to  be  secured  and  maintained  for  any  length  of  time, 
a  weekly  period  of  rest  must  be  allowed.  Except  for  quite  short 
periods,  continuous  work,  in  their  view,  is  a  profound  mistake 
and  does  not  pay — output  is  not  increased." 

The  committee  recommended  that  Sunday  labor  be  confined  to 
sudden  emergencies  and  to  repairs,  tending  furnaces,  etc.,  in 
which  cases  the  employes  should  be  given  a  rest  day  during  some 
other  part  of  the  week.  Although  the  committee  felt  that  the 
need  for  this  relief  from  Sunday  labor  was  more  urgent  for 
"  protected  "  persons  than  for  the  adult  males,  it  considered  that 
"  the  discontinuance  of  Sunday  labor  should  be  of  universal  ap- 
plication." Furthermore,  the  committee  felt  that  "the  foreman 
and  the  higher  management  even  more  certainly  require  definite 
periods  of  rest."  ^ 

An  interdepartmental  committee  was  set  up  late  in  1915  by  the 
Home  Office,  the  Admiralty,  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  and 
other  supply  departments  to  provide  for  the  regulation  of  the 
hours  of  labor  on  government  work.  This  committee  had  no 
statutory  power  to  deal  with  the  hours  of  labor  of  adult  male 
labor,  but  after  repeated  conferences  with  employers  in  the  muni- 
tion industries  it  secured  the  discontinuance  of  Sunday  labor  in 
the  northeast  coast  area.  This  committee  found  more  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  employes  than  on  the  part  of  employers  to 
the  discontinuance  of  Sunday  labor,  owing  to  the  fact  that  high' 
rates  of  pay  were  granted  for  this  work  and  the  claim  that  the 
high  cost  of  living  had  made  this  work  necessary. 

The  Ministry  of  Munitions  made  known  its  views  on  the 
undesirability  of  Sunday  labor  by  the  issuance  of  Circular  L180 
and  M.  M.  10,  in  which  it  stated  that  "  both  in  the  interest  of 
the  workers  and  production  "  a  weekly  rest  period,  preferably 
Sunday,  should  be  given  "  to  all  classes  of  labor,  male,  female, 
adult  and  juvenile "  and  held  that  overtime  work  was  more 
desirable  than  Sunday  labor.     Finally  in  April,  1917,  the  Min- 

"^  Sunday  Labor  (Memorandum  No.  1),  Bulletin,  United  States  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics,  No.  221,  pp.  14-19. 


210  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

istry  of  Munitions  issued  Circular  LSG,  calling  for  the  discon- 
tinuance of  Sunday  labor  in  all  controlled  establishments  on  and 
after  May  1/ 

In  a  special  report  on  hours  of  work  issued  by  the  Chief 
Inspector  of  Factories  in  1917,  it  is  stated  in  regard  to  industries 
in  general,  not  merely  munition  plants : 

Sunday  work  has  now  been  reduced  to  small  dimensions ;  it  is  stated  that 
experience  has  proved  it  to  be  unprofitable  and  even  harmful,  that  employers 
generally  and  the  large  majority  of  the  work  people  have  long  been  converted 
to  this  view,  and  that  its  sole  attraction  is  that  it  brings  with  it  increased 
wages,  on  which  account  there  has,  in  certain  limited  areas,  been  some  oppo- 
sition to  its  discontinuance.^ 

The  Health  of  Munition  Workers  Committee  made  a  report 
(Memorandum  No.  5)  in  January,  1916,  which  dealt  with  hours 
of  work  and  another  report  (Memorandum  No.  12)  in  August, 
1916,  which  dealt  with  output  in  relation  to  hours  of  work. 
The  aim  of  the  committee  was  stated  to  be  "  to  ascertain  the 
hours  of  employment  most  likely  to  produce  a  maximum  output 
over  periods  of  months,  or -maybe  even  of  years,"  and  its  recom- 
mendations were  made  on  the  expectation  that  the  war  would  be 
of  long  duration.  The  infonnation  collected  dealt  only  with  the 
hours  of  employment  of  workers  engaged  on  the  production  of 
munitions  of  war  for  which  the  Minister  of  Munitions  was 
responsible.  All  classes  of  workers  whose  output  was  measured 
were  on  piece  work  and  there  were  no  trade  union  restrictions 
upon  output.  The  committee's  conclusions  as  to  output  briefly 
stated  were: 

1.  Women  on  moderately  heavy  work  will  not  attain  a  maximum  output 
if  they  work  for  more  than  60  hours  per  week,  and  observations  seem  to 
show  that  an  equally  good  output  will  be  secured  in  a  working  week  of  56 
hours  or  less. 

2.  Women  on  light  work  apparently  reach  their  maximum  productivity  in 
a  working  week  of  about  62  hours. 

3.  For  men  engaged  on  very  heavy  work  the  maximum  output  is  secured 
when  the  hours  of  work  are  56  or  less  per  week. 

4.  For  men  engaged  in  moderately  heavy  work,  the  most  effective  work 
is  secured  when  the  hours  are  about  60  per  week. 

^  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  p.  124. 
2  Labour  Gazette,  1918,  p.  305. 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  ^  211 

5.  For  men  or  youths  engaged  on  light  work  maximum  output  is  attained 
only  when  the  hours  of  work  are  70  or  more. 

6.  The  best  hours  of  work,  suited  for  peace  times,  are  in  every  case  con- 
siderably shorter  than  those  mentioned.^ 

Later  investigations  made  by  the  same  committee  and  extend- 
ing over  a  longer  time  seem  to  show  that  the  maximum  output 
can  in  most  cases  be  secured  with  hours  considerably  less  than 
those  just  given  and  should  be  as  stated  below : 

1.  Women  on  moderately  heavy  work  reach  maximum  productivity  at  50 
hours  per  week. 

2.  Women  on  light  work  produced  more  in  a  working  week  of  54.8  hours 
than  in  one  of  64.9  and  in  a  week  of  48.1  hours  their  output  was  only  1  per 
cent  less  than  in  the*  week  of  64.9  hours. 

3.  Men  on  heavy  work  of  sizing  produced  21  per  cent  more  in  51.2  hours 
per  week  than  in  a  week  of  58.2  hours. 

4.  Fifteen  youths  on  light  labor  produced  only  3  per  cent  less  output  in  a 
week  of  54.5  hours  than  in  one  of  72.5  hours.^ 

The  committee  found  the  following  objections  to  extended 
overtime : 

1.  It  is  liable  to  impose  too  severe  a  strain  on  the  workers. 

2.  It  frequently  results  in  a  large  amount  of  lost  time. 

3.  It  imposes  a  very  serious  strain  upon  the  management,  the  executive 
staff,  and  the  foreman,  both  on  account  of  the  actual  length  of  the  hours 
worked  and  the  increased  worry  and  anxiety  to  maintain  output  and  quality 
of  work. 

4.  It  is  liable  to  curtail  unduly  the  period  of  rest  and  sleep  available  for 
those  who  have  to  travel  long  distances  to  and  from  their  work,  a  matter  of 
special  importance  in  the  case  of  young  persons. 

5.  The  fatigue  entailed  increases  the  temptation  to  men  to  indulge  in  the 
consumption  of  alcohol;  they  are  too  tired  to  eat  and  seek  a  stimulant. ^ 

While  the  committee  had  not  found  that  the  strain  of  long 
hours  had  caused  any  serious  breakdown  among  workers  there 
had  been  many  indications  of  fatigue  and  there  was  medical  evi- 
dence tending  to  show  that  the  long  hours  were  making  them- 
selves felt  on  older  men  and  on  those  suffering  from  physical 

^Output  in  Relation  to  Hours  of  Work  (Memorandum  No.  12),  Bulletin 
of  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  No.  221,  pp.  31-46. 

2  Monthly  Review  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  November,  1917, 
pp.  61 -62. 

^  Hours  of  Work  (Memorandum  No.  5),  Bulletin,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  No.  221,  p.  21. 


212  .  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

infirmity.  One  thing  brought  out  in  this  report,  as  well  as  in 
that  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories,  was  that  the  increased 
pay  resulting  from  overtime  had  enabled  the  workers  to  secure 
better  food  and  greater  material  com  fort  generally  and  these  had 
helped  to  counteract  the  strain  of  long  hours/ 

The  committee  shows  much  sympathy  with  the  48  hour  week 
so  strongly  urged  by  many  persons.  To  make  it  a  success  would 
however  require  a  reorganization  in  factory  management  which 
would  be  difficult  to  bring  about  in  war  times.  The  committee 
recommended  that  for  adult  males  the  average  weekly  hours 
(exclusive  of  meal  times)  should  not  exceed  05  to  C7.  Hours 
in  excess  of  this  should  only  be  worked  for  shert  periods  and  to 
meet  sudden  and  unexpected  circumstances.  The  overtime 
should  be  concentrated  within  three  or  four  days  a  week  and 
when  overtime  is  worked  there  should  be  no  Sunday  labor.  For 
women  and  girls  the  committee  held  that  "  continuous  work  in 
excess  of  the  normal  legal  limit  of  00  hours  per  week  ought  to 
be  discontinued  as  soon  as  practicable."  Some  reasonable  time 
should  be  allowed  for  readjustment.  For  boys  employed  to  assist 
adult  male  workers  the  committee,  "  though  with  great  hesita- 
tion," recommend  that  they  be  allowed  to  be  employed  on  over- 
time up  to  the  maximum  suggested  for  men,  "  but  every  effort 
should  be  made  not  to  work  boys  under  10  more  than  00  hours 
per  week."  ^ 

The  committee  recommended  day  and  night  shifts  in  prefer- 
ence to  overtime,  but  did  not  desire  it  to  be  thought  that  they 
regarded  night  work  as  a  good  thing.  The  arguments  against  it 
were  that  it  was  uneconomical  because  of  the  higher  rates  of 
pay,  supervision  was  frequently  unsatisfactory,  conditions  of 
lighting  seldom  good  and  workers  got  less  satisfactory  sleep  in 
the  day  time,  and  the  unfamiliar  meal  hours  were  likely  to  de- 
range digestion.^ 

The  conclusions  of  the  committees  on  hours  of  work  were 
confirmed  by  the  scientific  investigations  into  the  nature,  causes 

1  Bulletin  of  U.  S.  Bur.  Labor  Stat.  221,  p,  21.  Annual  report  of  Chief 
Inspector  of  Factories,  1915,  p.  9. 

2  Hours  of  Labor,  lac  cit.,  pp.  25-26. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  26-28. 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  213 

and  results  of  industrial  fatigue  made  for  the  Health  of  Munition 
Workers  Committee  and  for  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  *  and  by  the  reports  on  sickness  and 
injury  (Memorandum  No.  10)  ^  and  on  employment  of  women 
and  girls  (Memorandum  No.  4)  ^  also  made  for  the  Health  of 
Munition  Workers  Committee.  There  was  general  agreement 
that  "  overtime  labor  is  physiologically  and  economically  ex- 
travagant "  and  that  "  it  frequently  fails  in  achieving  its  object." 

The  interdepartmental  committee  on  hours  of  labor  were 
prompt  in  making  use  of  the  reports  and  recommendations  of 
the  Health  of  Munition  Workers  Committee  and  on  September  9, 
191G,  the  Home  Office  (under  which  is  the  Department  of  Fac- 
tory Inspection)  sent  to  employers  in  munition  factories  a  letter 
regarding  the  hours  of  labor  of  women  and  children  saying  that 
"  after  due  consideration,  it  has  been  decided  that  effect  must  be 
given  to  the  main  recommendations  of  the  (health  of  munition 
workers)  committee  in  this  respect  as  soon  as  possible."  Accom- 
panying the  letter  was  general  Order  No.  187  "  to  regulate  the 
hours  of  work  of  women  and  young  persons  employed  in  muni- 
tion factories,  including,  with  certain  exceptions  all  works  in, 
the  occupation  of  the  Crown  and  all  controlled  establishments."  * 
The  order  became  effective  on  October  2,  1916. 

This  order  permitted  women  and  girls  to  be  employed  not  to 
exceed  60  hours  per  week.  Boys  of  14  (under  one  plan  16)  and 
over  might  be  employed  not  to  exceed  63  (under  one  plan  65) 
hours  per  week.  Several  schemes  of  employment  were  offered, 
one  of  which  must  be  adopted  by  the  employer,  for  arranging  the 
factory  hours.  Some  of  the  plans  called  for  a  rest  period  of 
24  hours  each  week  and  regular  intervals  for  meals  were  to  be 
provided.  Women  might  work  at  night  if  properly  supervised 
by  a  woman  welfare  worker  or  responsible  forewoman.  Week 
end  volunteer  workers  might  be  employed  with  the  sanction  of 
the  superintending  inspector. 

*  These   several   reports  are   summarized   in   the  Mnnthlv  Review  of  the 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  December,  1916.  pp.  97-105. 

2  Bulletin  No.  221,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  pp.  61-72. 

3  fhid..  No.  223. 

*  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  475-483. 


214  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

Further  investigations  made  by  the  Health  of  Munition 
Workers  Committee  under  newer  conditions  which  have  devel- 
oped show  that  the  earlier  recommendations  of  the  committee  as 
to  the  number  of  hours  that  might  be  worked  need  to  be  revised 
and  that  "  the  time  is  now  ripe  for  a  further  substantial  reduc- 
tion in  the  hours  of  work."  ^  The  committee  calls  attention  to 
the  fact  that  conditions  in  industry  have  greatly  changed  during 
the  war.  Older  men  and  more  women  and  young  persons  are 
being  employed  and  they  are  doing  heavier  work  than  formerly. 
Both  employers  and  workers  are  coming  to  recognize  the  undesir- 
ability  of  the  long  hours.  "  Whereas  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
there  was  a  general  belief  that  longer  hours  necessarily  produced 
larger  output,  it  has  now  become  widely  recognized  that  a  13  or 
14  hour  day  for  men  and  a  12  hour  day  for  women,  excepting 
for  quite  brief  periods,  are  not  profitable  from  any  point  of 
view."  ^  According  to  the  reports  of  the  factory  inspectors, 
there  has  been  a  great  change  for  the  better  in  regard  to  the 
number  of  hours  worked  in  all  classes  of  factories  since  the  first 
year  of  the  war,  "  The  general  tendency  has  been  to  restrict  the 
,  weekly  hours  of  work  to  an  amount  very  little,  if  at  all,  in  excess 
of  those  allowed  under  the  Factory  Act,  and  to  arrange  for  more 
elasticity  in  the  daily  limits."  ^  The  report  of  the  Chief  Inspector 
for  1917  says  that  the  employment  of  women  and  young  persons 
for  hours  in  excess  of  the  maximum  legal  limits  of  the  ordinary 
provisions  of  the  Factories  Act  is  now  rare.* 

Holidays 

Closely  related  to  the  subject  of  hours  of  labor  is  that  of  holi- 
days. The  importance  of  holidays  in  the  life  of  the  working  man 
or  woman  has  been  thoroughly  appreciated  by  the  government 
departments  concerned  with  the  production  of  ships,  munitions 

1  Summary  of  report  on  weekly  hours  of  employment  (Memorandum  No. 
20)  in  Monthly  Review  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  February,  1918, 
p.  87. 

2  Weekly  hours  of  employment,  loc.  cit.,  p.  86. 

3  Report  of  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories,  1916. 
*  Labour  Gazette,  August,  1918,  p.  345. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  215 

and  other  war  supplies,  but  modifications  in  the  practices  prevail- 
ing in  peace  times  have  had  to  be  made  to  suit  war  exigencies 
in  this  as  in  other  matters. 

On  July  28,  1916,  an  order  (No.  501)  was  issued  under 
authority  of  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Acts,  which  authorized 
the  government  to  suspend  the  usual  bank  holidays  whenever  the 
observance  of  such  holidays  would  "  impede  or  delay  the  pro- 
duction, repair  or  transport  of  war  material  or  of  any  work 
necessary  for  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war."  ^  On 
December  5,  1916,  an  order  (No.  840)  was  issued  which  made 
it  legal  to  require  employers  to  give  their  employes  some  other 
day  as  a  holiday  in  place  of  the  one  which  had  been  omitted  by 
government  order  within  a  specified  period  of  time.^ 

Circular  L23  issued  this  year  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions 
states  that :  "  The  Minister  fully  recognizes  the  necessity  for 
some  holiday  period  both  for  the  health  of  the  work  people  and 
also  for  the  overhauling  and  repair  of  machinery."  It  asks  that 
in  granting  such  holidays  care  be  taken  to  see  that  the  regular 
output  of  munitions  be  not  interrupted  more  than  is  necessary, 
and  that  in  so  far  as  it  is  practicable,  all  munitions  and  ship- 
building establishments  in  the  same  districts  should  grant  holi- 
days of  the  same  length,  at  the  same  time  and  in  accordance  with 
the  usual  custom  of  the  district,' 

Order  6^7,  dated  July  3,  1917,  of  the  Minister  of  Munitions 
required  the  employers  in  controlled  establishments  to  observe 
the  custom  of  the  districts  or  agreements  which  had  been  made 
in  regard  to  the  summer  holidays,  but  such  holidays  when  fixed 
by  agreement  were  not  to  exceed  one  week  in  length  unless 
approved  by  the  Minister.*  It  has  also  been  found  necessary  to 
issue  an  order  (No.  663,  September  25,  1916)  setting  aside  cer- 
tain days  as  "  rest  days  "  in  controlled  establishments." 

1  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  133. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  1,  pp.  137,  180-182. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  298. 

*Ibid.,  pp.  298-299. 
6  Ibid.,  p.  294. 


216  BRITISH    LABOR   CONDITIONS   AND   LEGISLATION 


Welfare  Work 

One  of  the  most  gratifying  results  of  the  industrial  trans- 
formation in  Great  Britain  during  the  war  has  been  the  growth 
of  welfare  work  in  both  private  and  public  establishments.  A 
considerable  number  of  industrial  establishments  had  already 
established  such  departments  before  the  war.  Thirty  factories 
having  such  departments  sent  representatives  to  a  conference  at 
York  in  1913/  but  progress  in  this  direction  was  greatly  ac- 
celerated during  the  war.  There  are  at  least  three  reasons  for 
this  rapid  development.  (1)  The  tendency  to  concentrate  war 
work  in  large  establishments,  where  the  absence  of  close  personal 
relations  between  employers  and  employes  made  some  form  of 
supervision  of  the  workers  desirable;  (2)  the  rapid  substitution 
of  women  and  young  persons  for  men,  which  meant  that  em- 
ployers must  find  some  way  of  making  their  factories  attractive 
working  places,  and  the  conditions  surrounding  the  home  life 
of  the  workers  safe  from  the  standpoint  of  both  health  and 
morals;  (3)  the  stimulus  furnished  by  the  Ministry  of  Muni- 
tions to  the  owners  of  controlled  establishments. 

The  first  point  receives  emphasis  in  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  economic  section  of  the  British  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Advancement  of  Science  to  investigate  into  out- 
lets for  labor  after  the  war.  "  One  of  the  tendencies  of  the 
war,"  says  that  committee,  "  is  clearly  to  transfer  a  more  than 
normal  proportion  of  the  nation's  business  to  large  concerns. 
Though  this  has  its  drawbacks,  the  balance  on  account  is  prob- 
ably to  the  advantage  of  the  women  who  have  entered,  as  far 
as  the  safeguarding  of  their  lives  is  concerned,  and  consequently 
of  that  of  the  men  who  will  return."  ^  Only  the  larger  plants 
could  well  afford  the  expense  of  a  well  organized  welfare  depart- 
ment, but  given  a  sufficient  number  of  employes  the  cost  of 

^  Welfare  Supervision  (Memorandum  No.  2  of  the  Health  of  Munition 
Workers  Committee),  Bulletin  No.  222  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
p.  24. 

2  Draft   Interim  Report,  1915,  p.  6. 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  217 

welfare  supervision  need  amount  to  only  a  few  cents  per  week 
for  each  person  employed. 

The  employment  of  women  and  young  persons  in  large 
numbers  called  attention  to  the  need  of  furnishing  better  accom- 
modations for  the  workers  both  within  and  without  the  factory. 
Housing  accommodations  were  found  to  be  woefully  insufficient 
in  many  localities  where  women  were  being  sought  for  employ- 
ment purposes.  The  absence  of  good  transit  facilities  only 
emphasized  this  need.  The  necessity  for  traveling  to  and  from 
work  for  long  distances  and  the  impossibility  of  returning  home 
for  the  noonday  meal  called  attention  to  the  need  for  industrial 
canteens  and  the  more  delicate  human  instruments  being  dealt 
with  when  women  were  employed  showed  the  need  of  facilities 
to  prevent  the  increase  of  illness  and  broken  time.  The  reports 
of  the  factory  inspectors  give  illustrations  of  the  improvements 
which  were  being  made  in  factories  where  women  were  em- 
ployed. "  Instances  are  given  of  greater  cleanliness,  better  heat- 
ing, lighting,  ventilation  and  sanitary  accommodation,  improved 
first  aid  and  ambulance  arrangements  and  the  provision  of  pro- 
tective clothing.  In  many  cases  occupiers  have  provided  tea  in 
the  afternoon,  free  of  charge  for  those  working  overtime,  with 
very  beneficial  results. "  ^ 

The  Ministry  of  Munitions  soon  after  its  establishment  began 
to  give  serious  attention  to  the  question  of  the  welfare  of  the 
workers  in  munition  plants.  Circular  L6  issued  by  the  Ministry 
in  November,  1915,  made  recommendations  for  the  care  of 
women  workers.  The  Health  of  Munition  Workers  Committee 
appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Munitions  in  September,  1915,  gave 
especial  attention  to  the  matter  of  welfare  work,  issuing  no  less 
than  six  memoranda  on  the  subject  between  November,  1915, 
and  August,  1916.^  Some  of  the  recommendations  of  the  com- 
mittee, like  that  of  establishing  industrial  canteens,  were  at  once 
acted  upon  by  the  Minister.  Finally  at  the  end  of  January,  1916, 
a  Welfare  Department,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  B.  S.  Rown- 

1  Annual  report  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  and  Workshops.  1916. 

2  These  memoranda  have  been  reprinted  and  published  as  Bulletin  No. 
222  (Welfare  Work  in  British  Munition  Factories)  of  the  U.  S,  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics. 


218  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

tree,  a  manufacturer  well  known  for  his  interest  in  these  matters, 
was  established  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  to  give  effect  to 
the  recommendations  of  the  Health  of  Munition  Workers  Com- 
mittee's recommendations  "  with  regard  to  welfare  supervision, 
especially  with  regard  to  women."  ^ 

The  general  purpose  of  the  Welfare  Department  of  the  Minis- 
try of  Munitions  is  stated  to  have  been  "  to  raise  the  well  being  of 
the  workers  to  as  high  a  point  as  possible  in  all  factories  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  munitions  of  war,  etc.^  Not  all  the  wel- 
fare work  undertaken  by  the  department  had  to  do  with  the 
health  and  comfort  of  women.  The  Health  of  Munition  Workers 
Committee  distinctly  states  in  one  of  its  reports^  that  "  a  suitable 
system  of  welfare  supervision  would  be  of  advantage  in  muni- 
tion works  where  500  adult  males  or  100  boys  are  employed." 
The  Ministry  of  Munitions  recognized  this  need  to  the  extent 
of  issuing  a  memorandum  to  welfare  supervisors  of  boys*  in 
March,  1917.  In  view  of  the  fact,  however,  that  the  work  of 
the  Welfare  Department  was  limited  for  the  most  part  to  the 
supervision  of  the  welfare  of  women  and  boys  and  that  this 
subject  has  been  adequately  dealt  with  in  another  monograph  in 
this  series,^  it  will  be  necessary  here  only  to  indicate  the  scope 
of  work  undertaken  by  the  department.  The  work  includes: 
(a)  seeing  that  clean  and  wholesome  workrooms  are  provided 
and  that  the  work  is  suited  to  the  capacity  of  the  worker;  (b) 
providing  adequate  facilities  for  securing  nourishing  food  at 
reasonable  prices,  and  under  restful  and  wholesome  conditions; 
(c)  regulating  the  hours  of  work  and  providing  rest  periods  so 
as  not  unduly  to  tax  the  workers'  strength;  (d)  seeing  that  the 
wages  are  sufficient  to  provide  for  the  physical  efficiency  of  the 
worker  and  allow  a  sufficient  margin  for  reasonable  recreation; 
(e)  seeing  that  suitable  cloak  rooms,  lavatories,  toilet  rooms, 
overalls,  etc.,  are  provided  to  enable  decent  standards  to  be  met; 

1  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  483. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  2,  p.  1058. 

3  Memorandum  No.  2,  loc.  cit.,  p.  29. 

*  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  493-499. 
^  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  chaps,  xii  and  xiii. 


WAGES,    COST    OF   LIVING,    ETC.  219 

(f)  endeavoring  to  reduce  the  dangers  to  life  and  health  to  a 
minimum;  (g)  providing  such  supervision  as  is  necessary  to 
insure  a  good  standard  of  behavior  among  the  employes;  (h) 
seeing  that  the  workers  are  treated  with  due  consideration  by 
foremen  and  those  in  authority;  (i)  providing  where  necessary 
for  suitable  recreation  outside  of  working  hours,  especially  for 
those  working  under  strain  or  monotonous  work;  (j)  endeavor- 
ing to  see  that  adequate  and  reasonable  transit  facilities  to  and 
from  work  are  provided;  (k)  seeing  that  the  housing  accom- 
modations, food,  etc.,  provided  by  the  company  are  good  and 
the  price  reasonable  and  supervising  lodgings  of  workers  in 
private  homes;  (1)  giving  especial  attention  to  the  living  con- 
ditions and  morals  of  boys  and  girls  employed.  Although  the 
Welfare  Department  concerns  itself  with  all  these  matters,  it 
does  not  deal  with  all  of  them  directly,  but  refers  such  matters  as 
hours  of  labor  to  the  proper  government  departments  and  the 
matter  of  lodgings  to  the  local  advisory  committees.* 

The  Welfare  Department  assists  employers  to  find  and  to  se- 
cure training  for  welfare  supervisors.  These  welfare  supervisors 
assist  in  hiring  workers,  keep  records  of  their  broken  time  and 
rates  of  pay,  investigate  complaints  by  workers,  supervise  work- 
ing conditions,  canteens,  rest  rooms,  housing  and  transit  facilities 
and  recreation  facilities  and  conditions.  The  Ministry  of  Muni- 
tions in  order  to  give  to  owners  of  controlled  establishments  the 
utmost  encouragement  to  carry  on  welfare  work  allows  the  salary 
of  an  approved  welfare  supervisor,  the  cost  of  overalls  and 
other  necessary  equipment  to  be  treated  as  working  expenses  and 
allows  the  cost  of  canteens  as  expenditures  out  of  revenue  instead 
of  out  of  capital,  so  that  it  may  be  taken  into  account  in  the 
limitation  of  net  profits  under  Part  2  of  the  Munitions  Acts. 
The  cost  of  cloak  rooms,  lavatories,  etc..  is  written  down  to  the 
value  of  the  owner  at  the  end  of  the  period  of  control.^ 

It  is  said  that  the  benefits  which  have  resulted  from  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Welfare  Department  in  the  saving  of  time  and 


1  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  1058-1059. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  1.  p.  295;  vol.  2.  p.  1062. 


220  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

in  the  increase  of  output  have  been  very  great.  While  the  work 
of  welfare  supervision  has  been  severely  criticized  and  it  has 
often  been  difficult  to  get  satisfactory  supervisors,  the  work  on 
the  whole,  at  least  under  the  emergency  conditions  created  by  the 
war,  seems  to  have  justified  itself  by  its  results/ 

The  efforts  of  the  government  to  introduce  welfare  work  in 
factories  during  the  war  did  not  stop  with  the  munition  indus- 
tries. On  August  3,  1916,  the  Police,  Factories,  etc.  (Miscel- 
laneous Provisions)  Act  was  adopted,  whereby  the  Home  De- 
partment was  authorized  to  issue  orders  to  occupiers  of  factories 
or  workshops  to  make  necessary  *'  arrangements  for  preparing 
or  heating  and  taking  meals,  the  supply  of  protective  clothing, 
ambulance  and  first  aid  arrangements,  the  supply  and  use  of  seats 
in  workrooms,  facilities  for  washing,  accommodations  for  cloth- 
ing, arrangement  for  supervision  of  workers,"  where  it  appeared 
to  the  Secretary  that  "  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of 
employment  or  the  nature  of  the  processes "  required  special 
provision  to  be  made  for  the  welfare  of  workers.^ 

No  orders  were  issued  under  authority  of  this  act  until 
October,  1917,  during  which  month  orders  were  issued  requiring 
suitable  clothing  for  workers  in  tin  or  terne 'plate  factories  and 
for  women  employes  requiring  suitable  accommodations  for  car- 
ing for  clothing,  drying  clothing  if  wet,  and  suitable  mess  rooms 
and  washing  facilities,  also  requiring  wholesome  drinking  water 
in  all  factories  employing  25  or  more  persons  and  requiring  first 
aid  facilities  for  workers  in  foundries,  metal  works,  etc.^ 

Housing  Conditions  and  Legislation 

The  housing  situation  in  Great  Britain,  which  even  before  the 
war  was  so  acute  that  the  Prime  Minister  in  1913  estimated  that 
about  100,000  or  120,000  cottages  were  needed,*  became  much 

1  See  Andrews  and  Hobbs,  op.  cit.,  pp.  138-140. 

2  6  and  7  Geo.  5,  c.  31.  See  also  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp. 
885-889. 

3  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  888-895. 

*  L.  Magnusson :  "  War  Housing  in  Great  Britain,"  Monthly  Review  of 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  December,  1917,  p.  220. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  221 

more  serious  as  the  war  continued  and  as  financial  and  labor 
difficulties  made  the  building  of  houses  much  more  difficult.  In 
1917  competent  persons  estimated  that  400,000  cottages  were 
required  in  England  and  Wales,  if  the  needs  of  the  working 
classes  were  to  be  met.^  The  Housing  and  Town  Planning  Acts 
of  1890  and  1909,  which  authorized  the  Local  Government 
Board  to  furnish  financial  assistance  to  municipalities  desiring 
to  carry  on  housing  projects,  had  apparently  failed  to  accomplish 
their  purposes. 

After  the  war  had  been  in  progress  for  some  months  the  move- 
ment of  work  people  toward  the  centers  of  munition  manufacture 
resulted  in  great  congestion  and  overcrowding  in  these  com- 
munities. Lack  of  suitable  housing  accommodation  is  one  of 
the  causes  of  industrial  discontent  cited  by  the  commissions 
appointed  to  study  this  subject  in  1917.  Even  before  this  time, 
however.  Parliament  had  acted  with  a  view  to  remedying  the 
situation.  At  the  very  outbreak  of  the  war,  on  August  10,  1914, 
two  acts  were  passed,  one  of  which  authorized  the  local  govern- 
ment board  to  assist  any  authorized  society  which  limited  its 
profits  to  5  per  cent,  by  making  loans  to  or  taking  shares  in  the 
capital  of  such  societies  "  or  otherwise  as  they  think  fit."  By 
the  same  act  the  commissioners  of  works  were  with  the  consent 
of  the  Treasury  given  power  "  to  acquire  and  dispose  of  land  and 
buildings  and  to  build  dwellings,  etc."  This  act  was  limited  to 
"housing  of  persons  employed  by  or  on  behalf  of  government 
departments  where  sufficient  dwelling  accommodation  is  not 
available." 

The  other  act  was  intended  to  relieve  unemployment  in  the 
building  trades,  which  it  was  supposed  would  be  acute,  and  was 
limited  in  its  operation  to  one  year  from  date  of  passage.^  As 
no  considerable  unemployment  developed,  the  act  was  not  taken 
advantage  of  and  does  not  concern  us  here. 

An  amendment  to  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Act  was  adopted 
on  March  16,  1915,  which  gave  the  government  power  to  take 
possession  of  any  unoccupied  land  for  the  purpose  of  housing 

1  Mapfnusson,  op.  cit..  p   221. 

2  Both  acts  are  reprinted  in  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  855-858. 


222  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

workmen  employed  in  connection  with  the  manufacture  of  war 
materials,  and  a  later  act  provided  that,  in  purchasing  the  land, 
the  government  would  not  take  into  consideration  unearned 
increments  or  decrements  created  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war/  It  is  under  the  authority  of  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Acts 
that  the  Ministry  of  Munitions,  the  Army  and  the  Admiralty 
have  assisted  in  the  construction  of  houses  for  the  working 
classes.  Up  to  March  37,  1917,  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  had 
advanced  £3,181,654  for  this  purpose.  The  expenditures  for 
the  Army  and  Admiralty  have  been  by  comparison  insig- 
nificant.^ 

The  expenditures  made  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  has  fallen 
under  three  heads:  "  (1)  direct  grants  to  municipalities  and 
employers,  (2)  loans  to  contractors  for  permanent  housing 
schemes,  and  (3)  direct  construction  costs  for  permanent  or 
temporary  housing  in  the  neighborhood  of  national  establish- 
ments." ^  Most  of  the  work  accomplished  has  been  undertaken 
by  the  Ministry  itself.  The  Ministry  purchases  the  land  and 
constructs  the  houses  and  then  makes  arrangement  with  the 
municipality  or  some  public  utility  or  private  concern  to  take 
over  the  property  at  the.  expiration  of  a  certain  number  of  years 
after  the  war  at  the  value  the  property  then  has. 

Permanent  housing  has  been  undertaken  wherever  the  situa- 
tion made  this  possible.  Although  much  temporary  housing  was 
necessary,  it  has  not  been  found  satisfactory.  "  In  the  long  run," 
says  the  Ministry,  "  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  provision 
of  temporary  accommodation  is  wasteful.  There  was  a  sav- 
ing in  the  immediate  capital  expenditure  involved,  but  the 
great  bulk  of  the  money  spent  would  bring  no  return  of  any 
kind."  * 

Temporary  housing  by  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  has  taken 
several  different  forms:  (1)  cottages,  (2)  tenements,  i.e., 
barrack-like  rows,  (3)  houses  of  various  types  and  (4)  hotels, 

1  L.  Magnusson,  Monthly  Review,  December,  1917,  p.  224. 

2  L.  Magnusson :  "  Financial  Aspects  of  War  Housing  in  Great  Britain," 
Monthly  Review  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  June,  1918,  p.  201. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  202. 

*  Quoted  by  Magnusson,  Monthly  Review,  etc.,  June,  1918,  p.  203. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  223 

i.e,  temporary  boarding  and  lodging  houses.^  Of  these  the  most 
popular  were  the  cottages  and  separate  houses.  The  hotels  it  is 
said  were  a  failure.  Many  of  them  were  not  fully  occupied. 
Although  managed  by  some  body  like  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  work- 
ers disliked  them  because  they  lacked  privacy.^  The  cottages 
are  the  only  ones  from  which  the  receipts  from  rents  have 
equaled  the  expenditures,  apart  from  capital.^ 

Besides  the  work  done  by  government  departments  under  the 
authority  of  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Acts,  work  has  been 
carried  on  by  the  Local  Government  Board  and  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Works  under  authority  of  the  Acts  of  1890,  1909  and 
1914.  Most  of  the  work  has  been  done  by  a  loan  of  funds  and 
it  is  said  that  *'  numerous  towns  have  been  developed  as  perma- 
ment  communities  under  the  town  planning  principles  of  the 
Act  of  1909."  *  The  office  of  works  has  itself  undertaken  exten- 
sive construction,  especially  at  the  Woolwich  Arsenal.^ 

A  recent  memorandum  issued  by  the  advisory  housing  panel 
of  the  Ministry  of  Reconstruction  deals  with  the  emergency 
created  by  the  cessation  of  building  during  the  war  and  estimates 
that  to  make  up  the  deficiency  it  will  be  necessary  to  build  in 
the  year  after  the  war  "  250,000  houses,  plus  an  additional 
75,000  for  each  year  after  1917  through  which  the  war  is 
continued."  In  addition,  there  should  be  50,000  houses  built  in 
rural  districts. 

The  panel  propose  that  the  state  should  provide  the  entire 
cost  of  construction  and  should  own  the  houses  until  prices  have 
reached  their  normal  level,  when  they  should  be  transformed  to 
the  local  authorities  at  prices  adjusted  to  their  worth.  The  local 
authorities  should  act  as  agents  of  the  state  in  managing  the 
property  and  collecting  the  rents.* 

The  government  has  not  stopped  with  the  construction  of 
houses  and  hotels  in  its  efforts  to  solve  the  housing  problem.  In 
December,  1915,  a  law  was  passed  restricting  the  increase  in 

1  Magnusson,  Monthly  Review,  etc.,  June,  1918,  p.  204. 

2  Andrews  and  Hobbs.  op.  cit.,  p.  143. 

8  Magnusson,  Monthlv  Review,  etc.,  June,  1918,  p.  205. 
*  Ibid.,  December.  1917.  p.  226. 
6  Ibid.,  June,  1918,  p.  205^ 
^Labour  Gazette,  1918,  p.  263. 


224  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

rents  and  taxes  on  small  houses  as  already  mentioned.^  The 
impracticability  of  building  sufficient  houses  to  accommodate  all 
the  population  of  the  munition  centers  led  to  the  passage  of 
the  Billeting  of  Civilians  Act  of  May  24,  1917.''  A  central  billet- 
ing board  makes  a  survey  of  housing  conditions  and,  when  it 
finds  it  to  be  necessary,  civilian  workers  are  billeted  upon  the 
civil  population  in  the  same  way  that  soldiers  are  billeted.  It  is 
said  that  "  it  is  possible  in  some  cases  to  billet  a  working  popu- 
lation equal  to  or  greater  than  the  population  disclosed  by  the 
census  "  ^  and  that  in  this  way  congestion  has  been  relieved  even 
in  towns  where  it  was  reported  that  the  housing  situation  was 
bad. 

Unemployment  and  its  Relief 

At  a  time  when  the  nation  has  been  exhausting  its  resources 
to  find  sufficient  workers  to  supply  its  industrial  and  war  needs, 
it  is  evident  that  unemployment  would  not  be  a  serious  problem 
and  such  as  did  exist  would  be  practically  unavoidable.  We 
have  already  discussed  the  situation  as  it  existed  during  the  first 
year  of  the  war  and  have  seen  that  by  the  middle  of  1915  unem- 
ployment had  reached  the  lowest  level  in  Great  Britain  which 
had  been  known  since  statistics  on  the  subject  began  to  be 
collected.  Conditions  have  not  changed  for  the  worse  since  that 
time.  Generally  speaking,  the  percentage  of  unemployed  among 
trade  unionists  has  been  less  than  one  per  cent — for  much  of 
the  time  less  than  one  half  of  one  per  cent.  The  situation  in 
the  trades  whose  members  are  insured  against  unemployment 
under  the  National  Insurance  Act  (Part  2)  has  been  almost 
equally  favorable.  Occasionally,  some  temporary  difficulties  in 
certain  industries  or  areas,  such  as  a  shortage  of  materials,  have 
sent  the  unemployment  curve  upward  somewhat,  but  the  situation 
has  never  been  serious  and  has  not  called  for  any  extraordinary 
mode  of  relief. 

1  See  pp.  204-205. 

2  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  p.  867. 

3  L.  Magnusson,  Monthly  Review,  December,  1917,  p.  225. 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  225 

The  distress  committees  set  up  under  the  Unemployed  Work- 
men Act,  1915,  have  almost  ceased  to  function.  The  low  water 
mark  of  their  activity  seems  to  have  been  reached  in  May,  1916, 
when  only  37  people  were  given  relief  by  them.^  All  the 
exceptional  modes  of  relieving  distress  which  were  adopted  by 
the  government  or  by  voluntary  agencies  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war  have  been  discontinued. 

Similar  fortunate  results  indicating  individual  and  social 
prosperity  are  shown  by  the  statistics  of  pauperism.  The  total 
number  of  paupers  in  England  and  Wales,  which  includes  casual 
paupers,  paupers  in  receipt  of  outdoor  medical  relief  only,  luna- 
tics in  lunatic  asylums  and  all  other  classes  of  paupers,  declined 
from  765,077  at  the  end  of  September,  1914,  to  596,188  at  the 
end  of  September,  1917.^  The  decline  affected  all  classes  and 
"  apart  from  inmates  of  lunatic  asylums  and  paupers  in  receipt 
of  outdoor  medical  relief,  it  may  be  inferred,"  says  the  Labour 
Gazette,  "that  practically  the  whole  of  this  decrease  is  due  to 
the  abnormal  demand  for  man-power  which  set  in  as  a  result 
of  the  war."  ^  In  the  35  selected  urban  areas  from  which  reports 
are  received  by  the  Local  Government  Board,  the  number  of 
paupers  per  10,000  of  the  population  was  only  126  in  July,  1918, 
as  compared  to  184  in  July,  1914.* 

In  one  respect,  at  least,  the  war  has  brought  increased  attention 
to  the  subject  of  unemployment.  This  has  resulted  in  the  exten- 
sion of  the  state  system  of  unemployment  insurance  (Part  2  of 
the  National  Insurance  Act,  1911)  to — 

(a)  workmen  engaged  on  or  in  connection  with  "  munitions  work,"  as 

that  term  was  defined  by  the  Munitions  of  War  Acts,  except  when 
excluded  by  order  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and 

(b)  workmen  employed  in  any  of  the  following  trades  (which  are  men- 

tioned in  the  first  schedule  of  the  act)   whether  these  workmen 
are  engaged  on  munitions  work  or  not : 

(1)  The  manufacture  of  ammunition,   fireworks,   and   explosives. 

(2)  The  manufacture  of  chemicals,  including  oils,  lubricants,  soap, 
candles,  paints,  colors  and  varnish. 


1  Labour  Gazette.  1916,  p.  220. 

2  Ibid.,  1918.  p.  .S.!. 

8  Ibid.,  1916.  p.  404. 
*  Ibid.,  1918,  p.  330. 


226  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

(3)  The  manufacture  of  metals  and  the  manufacture  or  repair 
of  metal  goods. 

(4)  The  manufacture  of  rubber  and  goods  made  therefrom, 

(5)  The  manufacture  of  leather  and  leather  goods. 

(6)  The  manufacture  of  bricks,  cement  and  artificial  stone  and 
other  artificial  building  materials. 

(7)  Sawmilling,   including  machine   wood   work,   and  the   manu- 
facture of  wooden  cases." 

The  contributions  and  rates  of  benefit  under  this  act  are  the 
same  as  under  the  principal  act.  The  act  is  compulsory  on  em- 
ployers and  employes  in  the  trades  mentioned,  but  exceptions 
to  the  compulsory  feature  may  be  made  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
in  the  case  of  those  workers  who  can  show  that  they  were 
employed  in  munitions  work  prior  to  August  4,  1914,  or  that 
they  were  under  the  age  of  18  when  they  first  became  employed 
in  the  trade.  ^ 

The  act  came  into  force  on  September  4,  1916.  It  was  to 
remain  in  operation  for  five  years  from  that  date  or  until  three 
years  after  the  end  of  the  war  (whichever  of  those  dates  may  be 
the  later),  but  the  right  to  receive  benefits  continues  for  six 
months  after  that  date.  Just  prior  to  the  coming  into  effect 
of  the  act,  the  Board  of  Trade  issued  an  exclusive  order  exclud- 
ing from  the  operation  of  the  act  practically  all  classes  of  muni- 
tions workers  other  than  those  which  might  be  included  in  the 
narrow  sense  of  that  term,  "  the  manufacture  or  repair  of  arms, 
ammunition,  ships,  vessels,  vehicles  and  air  craft — intended  or 
adapted  for  use  in  war,"  and  of  the  metals,  machines,  tools  or 
materials  required  for  the  construction  of  the  above.^  The 
result  has  been  that  fewer  workers  have  been  added  to  the 
number  insured  under  the  principal  act  than  might  naturally  be 
supposed.  The  number  of  claims  for  benefits  made  in  July, 
1917,  under  this  act  were  3,806  as  compared  to  7,501  made  under 
the  principal  act.* 

The  extension  of  the  Unemployment  Insurance  Act  to  muni- 
tions workers  was  not,  of  course,  due  to  the  present  existence  of  a 

1 6  and  7  Geo.  5,  c.  20.    Public  General  Acts,  1916,  pp.  43-45. 
2  Labour  Gazette,  1916,  p.  349. 
«76»d.,  1917,  p.  289. 


WAGES,    COST   OF   LIVING,    ETC.  227 

large  amount  of  unemployment  in  these  trades,  but  to  an  uneasi- 
ness felt  by  workers  as  to  the  probable  effect  of  a  conclusion  of 
peace  upon  the  continuation  of  employment  in  these  trades.  It 
was  probably  deemed  advisable  by  the  government  for  another 
reason,  vis.,  that  it  would  be  easier  to  entice  workmen  into  the 
munitions  trades  from  the  insured  trades  if  they  recognized  that 
such  a  transfer  would  not  cause  them  to  surrender  their  claims 
for  benefits  under  the  Insurance  Act,  upon  their  becoming 
unemployed.  In  the  early  part  of  1918,  the  National  Insurance 
(Unemployment)  Act  received  a  further  extension,  bringing 
within  its  scope  certain  trades  not  hitherto  covered,  but  the 
details  in  regard  to  this  had  not  come  to  hand  at  the  time  this  was 
written. 

Disabled  Soldiers  ^ 

The  question  of  providing  for  the  needs  of  officers  and  men 
who  return  from  the  front  broken  in  body  or  health  has  been 
a  matter  of  both  public  and  private  concern  in  Great  Britain  since 
the  outbreak  of  the  war.  The  War  Pensions  Statutory  Commit- 
tee was  created  in  November,  1915,  to  care  for  disabled  officers 
and  men  after  they  had  left  the  service,  including  provision  for 
their  health,  training  and  employment,  and  making  grants  of 
money  when  necessary  to  enable  dependents  of  deceased  soldiers 
to  obtain  employment. 

In  December,  1916,  a  Ministry  of  Pensions  was  established 
and  all  the  work  of  the  statutory  committee  and  that  which  had 
been  dealt  with  by  other  departments  along  the  same  line  was 
transferred  to  the  new  ministry.  The  work  of  the  Ministry  of 
Pensions  has  been  along  four  lines:  (1)  Providing  medical 
and  surgical  treatment,  including  appliances  by  means  of  which 
the  disability  of  the  injured  man  may  be  reduced;  (2)  giving 
functional  and  technical  training,  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  the 
man  for  some  occupation ;  (  3  )  finding  suitable  employment  when 

1  The  information  for  this  section  has  been  furnished  by  an  article  by  Mrs. 
M.  A.  Gadsby,  "  Finding  Jobs  for  Great  Britain's  Disabled  Soldiers,"  in  the 
Monthly  Review  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  December,  1917, 
pp.  650-79. 


228  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  man  is  in  condition  to  accept  it;  (4)  furnishing  maintenance 
for  the  man  and  his  family  while  he  is  receiving  his  training  or 
is  becoming  adjusted  to  his  employment. 

When  the  man  is  discharged  from  the  army  or  navy,  his  name 
and  address  are  sent  to  the  employment  office  of  the  district  into 
which  the  man  has  gone.  The  office  writes  to  the  man  inviting 
him  to  register  with  it  in  case  he  wishes  its  assistance  in  finding 
employment.  Between  May,  1915,  and  July  13,  1917,  127,300 
disabled  soldiers  and  sailors  had  registered  at  the  employment 
offices  and  59,400  of  them  had  secured  employment.  The  remain- 
der, with  few  exceptions,  were  men  who  had  canceled  their 
registrations  either  because  they  had  found  employment  by  their 
own  efforts  or  had  discovered  that  their  disability  was  such  that 
they  would  be  unable  to  accept  normal  employment. 

The  Ministry  studies  carefully  the  labor  market  to  see  that 
not  too  many  men  are  reeducated  for  any  particular  trade  so 
that  they  could  not  all  be  profitably  employed.  Local  committees 
are  appointed  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  employers,  associations 
and  trade  unions  in  determining  the  occupations  in  their  respec- 
tive districts  in  which  men  are  to  be  employed,  the  kind  of  train- 
ing needed,  local  provisions  for  obtaining  this  training  or,  if  there 
are  no  local  facilities,  the  technical  institutes  or  factories  through- 
out the  country  where  it  may  be  secured,  the  wages  to  be  paid, 
etc.  There  are  also  special  investigators  who  have  been  appointed 
to  inquire  into  possible  openings  in  the  various  trades  of  the 
country  and  the  kind  of  training  needed.  Elaborate  schedules  of 
questions  have  been  drawn  up  for  the  purpose  of  securing  detailed 
information  with  regard  to  certain  industrial  processes  and  these 
have  been  sent  to  technical  schools,  factory  inspectors,  trade 
union  officials,  employers,  etc.,  to  secure  the  necessary  informa- 
tion. From  the  information  secured  from  all  these  sources  spe- 
cial pamphlets  are  issued  for  various  trades  telling  of  the  oppor- 
tunity for  using  disabled  men  therein,  the  previous  experience 
needed,  what  disabilities  would  and  what  ones  would  not  debar 
a  man  from  the  trade  in  question,  etc. 

It  is  said  that  an  employer  usually  undertakes  to  find  work 
in  his  establishment  for  his  former  employes  if  their  disability  is 


WAGES,    COST    OF    LIVING,    ETC.  229 

not  too  great.  Many  disabled  men,  however,  are  unable  to  take 
up  their  former  work  and  therefore  find  the  services  of  the  Min- 
istry of  Pensions  of  great  use. 

The  British  Labor  party  has  come  out  strongly  in  favor  of 
securing  the  best  treatment  that  can  be  afforded  and  every  appli- 
ance that  ingenuity  can  provide  or  skill  suggest  in  order  to 
restore  disabled  men  for  places  in  industry,  and  it  is  stated  that 
as  long  as  there  is  no  diminution  in  the  standard  of  living  and  no 
effort  to  use  the  disabled  man  to  defeat  the  legitimate  objects 
which  trade  unions  have  in  view,  the  trade  unions  desire  to 
assist  the  disabled  in  every  possible  way  to  secure  employment  in 
remunerative  work.^ 

iG.  J.  Wardle,  M.  P.:  "British  Labor  Party  and  the  Disabled."  Reprinted 
from  "Recalled  to  Life"  in  the  Monthly  Review  of  U.  S,  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  December,  1917,  p.  80. 


CHAPTER  IX 
Industrial  Unrest 

We  have  already  noticed  ^  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
strikes  which  took  place  during  the  first  half  of  the  year  1915, 
after  the  suspension  of  the  industrial  truce  which  marked  the 
early  months  of  the  war. 

Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  prewar  conditions,  the  growth 
in  the  number  of  disputes,  as  compared  with  the  opening  months, 
was  not  serious.  Only  360  disputes  involving  136,636  work 
people  and  causing  an  aggregate  loss  of  951,000  working  days 
were  officially  reported  for  the  first  six  months  of  1915,  as 
compared  with  663  disputes,  involving  361,860  work  people  and 
causing  a  loss  of  7,761,800  working  days  in  the  corresponding 
months  of  1914,  and  as  compared  with  151  disputes,  involving 
24,979  work  people  and  causing  a  loss  of  147,246  working  days 
during  the  last  half  of  1914,  which  includes  five  months  of 
actual  w;ar.'^ 

The  seriousness  of  strikes  in  war  times,  is  not,  however,  to 
be  measured  by  their  magnitude  but  by  the  extent  to  which  they 
interfere  with  the  conduct  of  the  war.  For  this  reason  the 
strikes  of  1915  gave  the  government  great  concern,  for  the  great- 
est loss  in  working  days  and  the  largest  number  of  work  people 
involved  were  in  the  textile,  engineering,  coal  mining  and  trans- 
port trades,  those  upon  which  the  steady  prosecution  of  the 
war  was  most  dependent. 

The  enactment  of  the  Munitions  Act  on  July  2,  1915,  marks 

the  adoption  of  a  new  policy  of  the  government  in  regard  to 

the  settlement  of  disputes  in  the  munitions  industries — and,  under 

certain  conditions,  in  other  industries,  zis. — the  application  of 

the  principle  of  compulsory  arbitration.     Judged  by  immediate 

1  Oiapter  III,  pp.  62-64. 
'^Labour  Gazette,  1915,  pp.  261,  355. 

230 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  231 

results,  this  part  of  the  act  might  well  be  considered  a  failure, 
for  the  first  attempt  to  enforce  it  in  an  important  dispute  was 
barren  of  results  and  the  dispute  had  to  be  settled  by  other 
means.  This  dispute  occurred  in  the  coal  mines  of  South  Wales 
and  Monmouthshire  and  led  to  a  strike  of  six  days  duration 
which  involved,  directly  and  indirectly,  201,401  workers.^ 

The  South  Wales  Coal  Strike 

The  South  Wales  coal  strike  was  not  entirely  due  to  war 
conditions.  A  five  year  agreement  between  the  South  Wales 
Miners  Federation  and  the  mine  operators  had  expired  on  April 
1  and  a  month  earlier  the  miners  had  submitted  proposals  for 
a  new  agreement.^  At  the  same  time  the  Miners  Federation  of 
Great  Britain  had  decided  to  ask  for  an  advance  of  twenty  per 
cent  in  wages  in  all  mines  in  England,  Scotland  and  Wales  to 
meet  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  living.  This  demand  had  been, 
at  least  partially,  met  as  a  result  of  arbitration  by  the  Prime 
Minister  (Mr.  Asquith)  in  April,  whereby  there  was  allowed 
an  advance  of  wages,  varying  in  the  different  districts,  the  exact 
amounts  to  be  determined  by  the  local  conciliation  boards.  To 
the  South  Wales  miners,  this  advance  meant  an  increase  of  17y2 
per  cent  on  the  standard  wage  used  as  a  basis  of  negotiation. 
The  20  per  cent  bonus,  if  allowed,  would  have  been  equiva- 
lent to  a  32  per  cent  increase  on  the  standard. 

When  the  South  Wales  miners  pressed  for  a  revision  of  the 
five  year  agreement,  the  mine  operators  claimed  that  their 
agreement  to  accept  arbitration  on  the  twenty  per  cent  bonus 
proposal  was  based  on  the  understanding  that  nothing  more  was 
to  be  said  about  the  wage  agreement.  The  miners  denied  that 
this  was  any  part  of  the  agreement  and  demanded  such  a  revision 
of  their  five  year  contract  as  should  allow  them  a  further  wage 
increase,  operative  for  three  years,  and  which  should  provide  for 
the  exclusion  of  nonunion  labor  from  the  mines.  They  had 
already  given  on  April  1  the  required  three  months'  notice  of 

^Labour  Gasettc.  1915.  p.  299. 

8  Labour  Year  Book,  1916,  pp.  74-75. 


232  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

their  intention  to  suspend  work  unless  a  new  agreement  was 
entered  into. 

As  the  time  for  the  suspension  approached  and  the  miners 
and  operators  had  been  unable  to  agree,  the  government  became 
concerned  as  to  the  effect  of  a  suspension  on  coal  production. 
Some  of  the  miners  engaged  on  admiralty  work  had  quit  work 
as  early  as  June  18  and  the  prospect  of  a  failure  to  agree  on 
the  nonunionist  issue  caused  others  to  quit  before  the  end  of 
June.^  Government  officials  took  up  the  negotiations  with  the 
miners  and  the  operators  where  they  had  broken  off  and  proposed 
a  series  of  compromises  for  the  war  period.  These  proposals 
were  accepted  as  a  basis  of  negotiations  and  the  miners  agreed 
to  continue  work  for  a  fortnight  on  a  day  to  day  contract  while 
negotiations  were  proceeding.  The  meaning  of  some  of  the 
government's  proposals  was  not  clear,  and  it  was  understood  that 
Mr.  Runciman,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  was  to  issue  an 
interpretation  of  them.  When  this  interpretation  was  issued  on 
July  9,  it  proved  unsatisfactory  to  the  miners,  who,  on  the 
eleventh,  voted  to  reject  the  proposed  agreement  and  informed 
the  government  that  they  would  accept  nothing  short  of  a 
complete  acceptance  of  their  own  terms.  Unless  these  demands 
were  granted,  they  were  determined  to  go  on  strike  on  July  14. 

Public  opinion  was  generally  against  the  strikers.  This  much 
is  admitted  by  the  authors  of  the  Labour  Year  Book,^  who  claim 
that  the  public  was  not  rightly  informed  as  to  the  real  issues 
involved.  The  government  now  decided  to  apply  to  the  con- 
troversy the  arbitration  provisions  of  the  Munitions  Act,  1915, 
which  had  just  been  adopted.  Although  coal  mining  is  not 
among  the  industries  to  which  the  Munitions  Acts  are  generally 
applicable,  under  section  3  of  the  original  act  the  government 
is  empowered  by  proclamation  to  extend  the  arbitration  pro- 
visions of  the  act  to  "a  difference  arising  on  work  other  than 
munitions  work"  if  "the  existence  or  continuance  of  the 
difference  is  directly  or  indirectly  prejudicial  to  the  manufacture, 
transport  or  supply  of  munitions  of  war,"  and  if  the  Minister  is 

1  British  Industrial  Experience  during  the  War,  vol.  2,  p.  982. 
-  See  p.  79. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  233 

not  satisfied  "  that  effective  means  exist  to  secure  the  settlement 
without  stoppage." 

Mr.  Runciman  announced  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  July 
12  that  negotiations  with  the  miners  had  proved  futile  and  that 
a  proclamation  would  be  issued  which  would  "  have  the  effect 
of  making  it  an  offense  to  take  part  in  a  strike  or  lockout  unless 
the  difference  has  been  reported  to  the  Board  of  Trade  and  the 
Board  of  Trade  has  not  within  21  days  of  such  report  referred  it 
for  settlement."  ^ 

The  proclamation  itself  was  issued  the  following  day,  but  it 
had  no  effect  in  preventing  a  strike.  This  took  place  on  July 
14.  The  miners  felt  that  the  proclamation  was  practically  a 
breach  of  promise  on  the  part  of  the  Minister  of  Munitions  (Mr. 
Lloyd  George).  The  miners  had  always  been  opposed  to  com- 
pulsory arbitration  and  it  was  because  they  understood  that 
compulsory  arbitration  would  be  insisted  upon  by  the  govern- 
ment that  the  Miners'  Federation  had  withdrawn  from  the 
conference  held  at  the  Treasury  in  March.  Later,  they  had 
entered  into  negotiations  with  Lloyd  George  to  be  left  out  of 
the  scope  of  the  Munitions  Bill  and  had  succeeded  in  securing 
the  insertion  of  the  following  clause  in  section  3  of  the  act  which 
authorizes  the  extension  of  the  arbitration  provisions  to  other 
than  the  munitions  trades:  "If,  in  the  case  of  any  industry, 
the  Minister  of  Munitions  is  satisfied  that  effective  means  exist 
to  secure  a  settlement  without  a  stoppage  of  any  difference  aris- 
ing on  work  other  than  munitions  work,  no  proclamation  shall 
be  made  under  this  section  with  respect  to  such  difference."  The 
government  felt  that  with  the  miners'  announcement  of  their 
intention  to  quit  work,  "  effective  means  "  outside  the  act  no 
longer  existed,  while  the  miners  felt  that  a  recognition  of  the 
justice  of  their  claims  would  have  avoided  the  necessity  of  a 
strike. 

The  government  had  not  set  up  a  South  Wales  munitions 
tribunal  to  deal  with  violations  of  the  act.  The  penalties 
provided  for  engaging  in  a  strike  are  £5  per  day  foi-  each  indi- 
vidual involved.     The  government  had  felt  confident  that  there 

^British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  2,  p.  983. 


234  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

would  be  no  strike,  for  the  Miners'  Federation  had  given  to  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  and  Mr.  Arthur  Henderson  a  pledge  that  there 
would  be  no  strike  in  the  coal  fields  during  the  war.^  The  men, 
however,  had  largely  drifted  away  from  the  leadership  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Federation,  which  had  advised 
against  the  strike.^ 

The  Minister  of  Munitions  now  established  a  general  muni- 
tions tribunal  for  Wales  and  Monmouthshire,  but  the  govern- 
ment decided  that  it  was  not  expedient  to  proceed  against  the 
strikers.  Negotiations  were  resumed  with  the  South  Wales 
Miners'  Federation  and  Messrs.  Lloyd  George,  Runciman  and 
Henderson  went  to  Cardiff  on  July  19  and  held  a  conference 
with  the  officials  of  the  union.  It  was  agreed  that  most  of  the 
demands  made  by  the  men  should  be  granted,  including  a  con- 
siderable advance  in  wages.  It  was  further  agreed  that  no  action 
should  be  taken  by  the  government  against  the  strikers  and  that 
every  effort  would  be  made  to  maintain  and  increase  the  output 
of  coal.  With  these  concessions,  the  men  resumed  work  on  July 
20.  The  first  attempt  to  extend  the  operation  of  the  arbitration 
provisions  of  the  Munitions  Acts  to  nonmunitions  work  had 
proved  a  failure.  A  strike  had  occurred  which  had  cost,  it  was 
estimated,  about  £1,500,000  and  had  reduced  the  output  of  coal 
by  1,000,000  tons.^ 

Strikes  During  the  War 

Another  strike  involving  about  32,000  miners  took  place  in  the 
South  Wales  coal  fields  in  August,  1915,  caused  by  dissatisfac- 
tion over  an  interpretation  of  the  agreement  of  July  30  by  Mr. 
Runciman.  A  compromise  was  soon  effected  and  the  men  re- 
turned to  work.* 

Aside  from  these  two  disputes  in  the  coal  mining  industry, 
no  strikes  of  serious  importance  took  place  during  the  latter 
half  of  1915.     Although  the  record  for  these  months  was  not 

1  H.  L.  Gray :  Wartime  Control  of  Industry,  pp.  74-75. 

2/6irf.,  p.  75. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  77. 

*  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  2,  p.  984. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST 


235 


equal  to  the  last  six  months  of  1914,  most  of  the  disputes  which 
did  occur  were  in  small  establishments,  involved  few  workers 
and  were  of  short  duration.  The  record  for  the  year  1915, 
considered  as  a  whole,  was  more  favorable  than  for  1914  or  for 
any  year  since  1910.^  It  was  probably  not  so  much  compulsory 
arbitration  under  the  Munitions  Act,  as  it  was  a  feeling  of 
patriotism  and  the  influence  of  the  war  bonuses,  which  sufficed 
to  keep  the  workers  steadily  at  their  tasks. 

The  year  1916  presented  an  even  more  favorable  record  than 
that  for  1915,^  and  the  record  for  1917,  while  not  equal  to  that 
of  either  1916  or  1915,  was  better  than  that  of  any  year  of  the 
period  immediately  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  The 
record  for  the  entire  war  period  down  to  the  middle  of  1918  is 
set  forth  in  the  following  table :  ^ 


IJumber  of 

Period  Industrial 

Covered  Disputes 

Last  6  mos.,  1914 151 

Year  of  1915 706 

Year  of  1916 581 

Year  of  1917 688 

First  6  mos.,  1918 567 


Aggregate 

Number  of 

Duration  in 

W^ork  people 

Working  Days  of  All 

Involved 

Disputes  in  Progress 

24,979 

147,246 

452,571 

3,038,134 

284,396 

2,599,800 

820,727 

5,513,900 

312,750 


2,090,800 


Several  of  the  disputes  which  occurred  during  the  years  1916 
and  1917  gave  the  government  considerable  concern,  for  they 
curtailed  in  a  serious  manner  the  production  of  munitions  of 
war.  In  March,  1916,  there  occurred  the  strike  in  the  engineer- 
ing trades  known  as  that  of  the  Clyde  Workers'  Committee.  The 
purpose  of  this  strike  was  to  change  the  military  and  industrial 
policies  of  the  government;  to  force  the  repeal  of  the  Munitions 
of  War  Acts  and  the  Military  Service  Acts  by  holding  up  war 
supplies.  This  strike  was  in  defiance  of  the  agreement  made 
between  the  leaders  of  the  trade  unions  and  the  government  and 
both  the  strike  and  the  strikers  were  repudiated  by  the  Amalga- 
mated Society  of  Engineers.     However,  the  men  claimed  that 

^Labour  Gasette.  1915.  p.  355;   1916,  p.  6. 

2  Ibid..  1917.  p.  7. 

8  Ibid.,   1915,  p.  355 ;  1917,  pp.  7,  285 ;  1918,  p. 


278. 


236  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

they  had  not  been  consulted  when  this  agreement  was  entered 
into  and  that  they  were  not  bound  by  it.  They  were  especially 
dissatisfied  with  the  arrangements  regarding  dilution  and 
demanded  that  shop  stewards  be  allowed  to  interrupt  their  work 
to  go  into  other  departments  to  inspect  arrangements  for  the 
dilution  of  labor.  The  employers  objected  to  this  interruption, 
but  were  willing  to  submit  the  matter  to  the  Clyde  commissioners 
and  to  give  the  men's  representatives  facilities  to  ascertain  what 
was  being  done  under  the  dilution  scheme.^  The  government 
acted  prompdy  in  the  matter  of  this  strike.  Under  powers 
conferred  by  the  Defense  of  the  Realm  Acts,  it  proceeded  to 
arrest  nine  leaders  and  conveyed  them  to  another  part  of  the 
kingdom  on  a  charge  of  delaying  the  production  of  munitions  in 
a  controlled  establishment.  Within  a  week  the  strike  was  at  an 
end.  After  fourteen  months  the  leaders  were  allo\Ved  to  return 
home.^ 

There  were  few  strikes  in  munitions  plants  during  the  remain- 
der of  1916.  In  June  it  was  found  necessary  to  apply  by  procla- 
mation Part  I  of  the  Munitions  Act  to  a  strike  of  the  Liverpool 
dock  laborers,^  and  the  same  action  was  taken  in  October  of  that 
year  in  the  case  of  the  Glasgow  dock  laborers,*  and  in  December 
in  the  case  of  the  strike  of  card  room  and  blowing  room  opera- 
tives in  the  Lancashire  cotton  mills.^ 

There  were  few  stoppages  in  the  coal  mines  during  1916.  On 
December  1,  191G,  the  government  took  over  the  control  of  the 
coal  mines  in  the  South  Wales  coal  fields  and  on  March  1,  1917, 
it  assumed  control  of  all  mines  in  the  United  Kingdom.  This  did 
not  put  an  end  to  all  strikes  in  the  coal  fields,  however;  indeed 
the  number  of  strikes  in  coal  mines  has  shown  some  tendency  to 
increase.®  In  November,  1917,  a  strike  of  three  days'  duration 
took  place  in  South  Wales  and  Monmouthshire  on  the  part  of 
2,600  colliery  examiners,  which  threw  some  127,000  workers 

1  Gray,  op.  cit.,  pp.  48-49. 

2  Tbid.,  pp.  48-49. 

3  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  266-267. 
*  Ibid.,  pp.  267-268. 

filbid.,  pp.  268-269. 

^Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  283. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  237' 

idle.  The  strike  was  over  the  recognition  of  the  Colliery  Exam- 
iners Union  and  was  successful.^  The  government  has  not  again 
attempted  to  prevent  or  settle  these  disputes  under  the  provisions 
of  the  Munitions  of  War  Acts,  but  has  made  use  of  the  machinery 
and  methods  of  conciliation  which  have  ordinarily  been  applied 
in  the  cases  of  disputes  arising  under  private  management. 

Recent  Government  Policy  Concerning  Disputes 

On  December  22,  1916,  Parliament  created  a  Ministry  of 
Labor  to  take  over  most  of  the  labor  functions  being  exercised 
by  other  departments.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  Minister 
was  to  issue  an  appeal  to  the  trade  unions  to  give  up  the  practice 
of  striking  during  the  war.  The  response  to  this  appeal  has  not 
been  such  as  he  had  reason  to  hope  for,  as  our  figures  for  1917 
clearly  show;  nevertheless  it  is  said  that  in  response  to  the 
efforts  of  the  Minister  several  large  bodies  of  strikers  returned 
to  work.  With  regard  to  most  of  the  strikes  which  have  occurred 
during  the  war,  it  must  be  said  that  they  have  been  of  short 
duration,  frequently  lasting  only  a  day  or  two,  and  that  they  do 
not  indicate  any  intention  or  desire  to  embarrass  the  government 
in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  It  has  been  said  that  the  prevalence 
of  overtime  and  Sunday  labor,  while  seldom  resented  by  the 
workers,  who  are  glad  of  the  extra  earnings  due  to  the  high  rates 
of  pay  for  such  work,  has,  nevertheless,  been  the  indirect  cause 
of  the  frequent  stoppages.  The  strain  on  the  nerves  of  the 
workers  caused  by  the  long  hours  of  work  has  made  them  easily 
irritable  and  ready  to  respond  to  slight  provocation. 

Recognition  of  this  fact  and  of  the  undoubted  loyalty  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  workers  and  of  their  desire  to  assist  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  has  led  government  officials  to  make 
relatively  little  use  of  their  power  to  prosecute  the  workers  for 
their  participation  in  strikes,  even  in  the  case  of  munition  work- 
ers. The  penalties  provided  are  looked  upon  as  weapons  of  last 
resort  and  conciliation  has  generally  been  regarded  as  preferable 
to  compulsory  arbitration. 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1917,  p.  455. 


*238  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

In  the  engineering  and  shipbuilding  trades,  complaints  over 
pay,  leaving  certificates,  dilution,  failure  on  the  part  of  employers 
to  keep  the  records  of  changes  in  working  rules,  etc.,  have  been 
almost  continuous  aud  have  at  times  led  to  disputes  of  serious 
proportions.  Open^defiance  of  the  government,  showing  itself  in 
the  form  of  called  strikes,  has  perhaps  been  infrequent,  but 
voluntary  cessation  of  work  and  other  methods  of  showing 
dissatisfaction  by  curtailing  production  have  been  resorted  to. 

In  May,  1917,  the  dissatisfaction  in  the  engineering  trades 
came  to  a  head.  Employers  were  substituting  piece  work 
schedules  for  time  schedules  and  the  new  rates  of  remuneration 
proved  unsatisfactory.  New  machinery  was  being  introduced 
and  laborers  were  beginning  to  suspect  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible ever  to  carry  out  the  pledges  which  had  been  made  by 
employers  under  Schedule  2  of  the  Munitions  Acts  to  restore 
the  prewar  conditions.  Two  new  subjects  of  complaint  arose 
about  this  time :  ( 1 )  The  government  found  it  necessary  to  with- 
draw the  exemption  card  agreement  which  it  had  made  with  the 
Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,^  and  which  permitted  all 
skilled  men  of  that  organization  engaged  on  war  work  or  en- 
rolled as  war  munitions  volunteers,  who  held  exemption  cards 
issued  by  the  society,  to  escape  military  service.  This  with- 
drawal created  great  dissatisfaction,  although,  outside  the  engi- 
neering trades,  this  singling  out  of  the  Amalgamated  Society 
for  special  privileges  had  produced  dissatisfaction  in  other 
unions.  (2)  The  Munitions  of  War  (Amendment)  Bill  which 
had  been  introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons  authorized  the 
dilution  of  labor  on  private  work.  The  government  had  prom- 
ised in  1915,  when  the  Munitions  of  War  Bill  was  being  pre- 
pared, that  it  would  not  extend  dilution  to  private  work.  The 
need  of  men  for  military  service  was  now  so  great  that  it  asked 
to  be  relieved  of  its  promise.  Many  unions  gave  their  consent, 
but  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers  would  not  do  so. 
When  the  bill  was  brought  up  in  the  House  of  Commons,  the 
engineers  began  to  remain  away  from  work  and  a  silent  strike 

1  See  ante,  p.  — ;  also  British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  324-325. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  239 

was  being  carried  on  which  by  the  middle  of  May  was  causing 
great  embarrassment  to  the  government. 

Steps  were  taken  to  conciliate  the  engineers  and  to  make  evi- 
dent to  them  the  need  for  a-  change  in  the  government's  policy. 
Certain  concessions  were  offered  to  them  in  return  for  their 
support.    These  were : 

(a)  A  promise  that  when  it  was  necessary  to  extend  dilution  to  private 

work,  advance  notice  would  be  given  in  the  newspapers  and  three 
weeks  allowed  for  any  protest  by  any  union  concerned. 

(b)  The  prohibition  of  the  right  to  strike  would  not  extend  to  workers 

in  these  establishments. 

(c)  Dilution  of  labor  in  these  establishments  would  at  once  cease  with 

the  close  of  the  war. 

(d)  Certain  concessions  were  made  in  regard  to  standardization  of  wages, 

arbitration  and  the  abolition  of  leaving  certificates.^ 

These  proposals  were  not,  however,  acceptable  to  the  Amal- 
gamated Society  of  Engineers  and  they  would  not  agree  to 
dilution  on  private  work.  Consequently,  when  Mr.  Winston 
Churchill  became  Minister  of  Munitions,  after  some  further 
efforts  to  reach  an  agreement  with  the  unions,  it  was  decided 
to  omit  this  part  of  the  scheme  from  the  amendment  to  the 
Munitions  Acts. 

Outside  the  engineering  and  shipbuilding  trades,  the  strikes 
of  1916  and  1917  have  not  been  of  a  very  serious  character. 
Thirty  thousand  jute  workers  at  Dundee  were  out  on  strike  for 
a  15  per  cent  advance  of  wages  from  March  24  to  June  8, 
1916.^  Threats  of  a  strike  on  the  railways  of  the  United  King- 
dom led  the  government  to  extend  Part  I  of  the  Munitions  Act, 
1915,  which  pertains  to  the  settlement  of  industrial  disputes,  to 
the  railways  on  August  8,  1917.^  For  the  first  four  months  of 
1918  the  strikes  have  been  numerous,  but  can  not  be  said  to  have 
been  very  serious  or  of  long  duration.  They  show,  however,  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  the  men  to  take  advantage  of  the  war 
needs  to  demand  changes  favorable  to  labor,  and  the  needs  of 
employers  and  the  government  are  such  that  concessions  are 
usually  made. 

1  Gray,  op.  cit.,  pp.  51-52. 

2  Labour  Gasette,  1917,  p.  283. 

^British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  1,  pp.  269-270. 


240  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

The  rising  tide  of  industrial  discontent  among  the  laboring 
classes,  as  evidenced  by  the  strike  statistics  which  we  have  given, 
did  not  fail  to  impress  the  government  officials  responsible  for 
the  conduct  of  the  war.  Desiring  'to  proceed  in  an  intelligent 
manner  to  quell  this  discontent,  the  government  decided  in  June, 
1917,  to  appoint  commissions  of  inquiry  to  investigate  the  causes 
of  industrial  unrest  and  to  make  recommendations  to  the  govern- 
ment in  regard  thereto.  Before  proceeding  to  discuss  the  work 
of  these  commissions,  it  is  desirable  to  report  briefly  the  work  of 
an  unofficial  inquiry  into  the  same  subject  which  had  already 
been  made. 

British  Association  Report  on  Industrial  Unrest 

The  section  of  economic  science  and  statistics  of  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  which  very  early 
in  the  war  had  committees  at  work  investigating  industrial  and 
financial  phases  of  the  war  had  a  committee  investigating  the 
causes  of  industrial  unrest,  which  made  its  report  early  in  1916. 
This  committee  was  made  up  of  representatives  of  employers, 
trade  unionists  (among  whom  was  Mr.  Harry  Gosling,  President 
of  the  Trades  Union  Congress),  economists,  such  as  Charles 
Booth,  Archdeacon  Cunningham,  Professors  Sidney  Chapman 
and  E.  C.  K.  Conner,  and  other  scientifically  trained  men.  The 
personnel  of  the  committee  was  such  as  to  make  its  conclusions 
of  more  than  ordinary  value  and  the  resemblance  between  its 
findings  and  those  of  the  several  government  commissions,  ap- 
pointed later,  lends  additional  interest  to  its  report.  The  com- 
mittee found  the  principal  causes  of  industrial  unrest  to  be  as 
follows : 

1.  The  desire  of  work  people  for  a  higher  standard  of  living. 

2.  The  desire  of  work  people  to  exercise  a  greater  control  over  their  lives, 
and  to  have  some  determining  voice  as  to  conditions  of  work. 

3.  The  uncertainty  of  regular  employment. 

4.  Monotony  in  employment. 

5.  Suspicion  and  want  of  knowledge  of  economic  conditions. 

6.  The  desire  of  some  employers  for  more  regular  and  satisfactory  labor. 

7.  The  effects  of  war  measures.''^ 

iKirkaldy  (Editor):  Labor,  Finance  and  the  War,  1916,  pp.  21-22. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  241 

Some  of  these  causes,  it  will  be  noticed  at  once,  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  war,  notably  number  3,  for  lack  of  regular  em- 
ployment certainly  could  not  be  a  matter  of  complaint  in  the 
middle  of  1916.  Number  7,  on  the  other  hand,  relates  solely 
to  the  war. 

1.  The  committee  notes  the  fact  that  industrial  discontent  is 
coincident  with  the  rise  in  the  cost  of  living  in  recent  years  and 
that  the  breakdown  of  the  industrial  truce  which  had  prevailed 
during  the  early  months  of  the  war  came  at  a  time  when  food 
prices  began  to  show  a  considerable  and  steady  increase,  wages 
not  having  risen  in  equal  degree.  There  is  more  involved  in 
this  question,  however,  the  committee  points  out,  than  the  mere 
maintenance  of  the  standard  of  living.  "  Work  people  desire  to 
raise  their  standard,  and  this  desire  has  been  stimulated  by  educa- 
tion." The  committee  admits  that  this  is  laudable,  but  points 
out  that  "  it  is  impossible  to  raise  the  general  standard  of  living, 
indefinitely,  by  raising  wages,  without  at  the  same  time  raising 
the  productivity  of  our  industries."  ^ 

2.  The  desire  of  the  work  people  to  exercise  a  greater  control 
over  their  lives  is,  the  committee  declares,  a  reflex  of  the  exten- 
sion of  the  democratic  movement  from  political  to  industrial 
life.  Disputes  over  wages,  while  still  most  numerous,  are  not 
the  only  ones.  Many  strikes  are  now  over  questions  of  shop 
management,  discipline  and  trade  union  principles.  The  workers 
themselves  do  not  seem  to  have  realized  the  full  significance  of 
these  demands  and  in  only  a  few  cases  have  they  been  definitely 
formulated  by  labor  groups,  but  they  are  likely  to  play  a  larger 
part  in  the  industrial  life  of  the  future.  Such  demands  have  up 
to  the  present  time  chiefly  concerned  themselves  with  restriction 
of  output  as  a  means  of  protection  against  speeding  up,  and 
reduction  of  piece  rates. 

The  demand  for  a  recognition  of  trade  unions  is  partly  due 
to  a  knowledge  that  "  the  more  perfect  their  organization;  the 
more  easily  will  they  be  able  to  increase  the  material  benefits 
which  they  can  obtain  for  their  members,"  but  it  is  also  because 

iKirkaldy,  ot>.  cit.,  p.  24. 


242  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  "  work  people  believe  that  the  power  to  control  their  own 
lives  and  the  conditions  under  which  they  work — i.e.,  industrial 
freedom — can  only  come  through  a  strong  and  disciplined 
organization."  *  In  these  more  important  ways  and  in  many 
minor  ways,  according  to  the  committee,  are  workmen  showing 
a  tendency  to  claim  "some  share  of  control  over  the  discipline 
of  the  workshop,"  "  They  are  dissatisfied  with  the  status  of  the 
wage  earner,  and  call  into  question  the  actual  relationship  that 
exists  in  industry  today  between  the  different  factors  concerned. 
.  .  .  What  they  aim  at  is  a  change  in  the  relationship  between 
employers  and  work  people."  ^ 

3.  "  All  the  work  people  who  have  submitted  memoranda," 
says  the  committee,  agree  in  emphasizing  the  uncertainty  of 
employment  as  one  of  the  main  causes  of  industrial  unrest. 
Unemployment  insurance  has  lessened  the  evil,  but  the  benefits 
are  insufficient  for  married  workers  and  the  majority  of  work- 
men are  unaffected  by  the  scheme.  The  committee  urges  an 
extension  of  unemployment  insurance,  continued  efforts  to  de- 
casualize labor  and  the  establishment  of  the  custom  of  giving 
longer  notice  to  those  whom  it  is  intended  to  discharge. 

4.  Monotony  of  employment  the  committee  considers  as  per- 
haps inevitable  under  modern  conditions  of  industry,  but  says 
that  it  constitutes  "  a  considerable  strain  on  the  nervous  system 
and  predisposes  the  workers  to  unrest."  It  points  out,  however, 
that  monotonous  work  need  not  necessarily  lead  to  a  monotonous 
life.  Modern  town  life  offers  opportunities  for  pleasure  and 
recreation.  What  the  workers  need  are  opportunities  for  educa- 
tion, leisure  and  the  material  means  of  obtaining  recreation. 
Inside  the  factory  the  monotony  may  be  lessened  by  brighter  and 
healthier  buildings  and  by  a  better  distribution  of  rest  periods.* 

5.  Suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  workers  that  they  are  being 
exploited  is  due  largely  to  a  want  of  knowledge  of  the  facts 
concferning  the  economic  condition  of  the  industry  in  which 
they  are  engaged.     The  laborers  lack  the  knowledge  concern- 

^Kirkaldy,  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 
2  Ibid.,  pp.  26-27. 
8  Ibid.,  pp.  28-29. 


INDUSTRIAL   UNREST  243 

ing  market  conditions,  profits  and  the  commercial  and  financial 
position  of  the  industry  which  might  enable  them  to  understand 
the  employers'  point  of  view. 

6.  The  desire  of  employers  for  more  regular  and  satisfactory 
labor  represents  the  employers'  point  of  view  in  explaining  in- 
dustrial unrest.  Employers  point  to  the  failure  of  many  men 
to  work  regularly  and  show  how  this  restricts  output.  They 
claim  that  laborers  are  becoming  less  reliable  and  less  efficient, 
that  the  "  least  skilled  and  slowest  man  employed  on  the  work 
in  question  is  apt  to  set  the  standard  for  the  whole."  The  com- 
mittee believes  that  these  conditions  could  be,  at  least  partially, 
remedied  by  the  employers  regularizing  employment  as  much  as 
possible,  discouraging  overtime  and  remembering  that  laborers 
are  human  and  should  be  treated  accordingly.  To  the  laborers 
the  committee  preaches  thrift  and  forethought* 

7.  The  war  measures  which  the  committee  finds  to  be  produc- 
tive of  industrial  unrest  are  the  restraints  imposed  by  the  Muni- 
tions Acts  and  the  high  speed  and  long  hours  of  work  which 
produce  physical  strain  and  irritation.^ 

The  committee's  recommendations  concerning  the  changes 
needed  in  the  organization  of  industry  ^  are  far  reaching  and 
bear  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  the  plans  set  forth  in  March, 
1917,  by  the  report  of  the  reconstruction  committee  appointed  by 
the  Prime  Minister,  generally  known  as  the  Whitley  report. 
Possibly  the  presence  of  Professor  Sidney  Chapman  on  both 
committees  is  responsible  for  this.  These  recommended  changes 
will  be  dealt  with  in  the  chapter  on  industrial  reconstruction. 

Investigation  by  Government  Commissions 

The  government  commissions  appointed  on  June  12,  1917,  by 
the  Prime  Minister,  "  to  inquire  into  and  report  upon  industrial 
unrest  and  to  make  recommendations  to  the  government  at  the 
earliest  practicable  date."  were  eight  in  number,  each  covering  a 

1  Kirkaldy,  op.  cit.,  pp.  29-32. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  32. 
3/&tU,  pp.  44-50. 


244  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

distinct  geographical  section  of  Great  Britain.  There  were  three 
members  of  each  commission.  They  started  at  work  almost  im- 
mediately and  worked  with  such  speed  that  their  reports  had 
been  received  and  advance  copies  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Prime  Minister  by  July  17.  The  shortness  of  the  time  con- 
sumed may  have  made  the  inquiry  less  thorough  than  would  be 
thought  necessary  in  times  of  peace,  but  there  is  nothing  to  indi- 
cate that  different  conclusions  would  have  resulted  from  a  more 
lengthy  investigation.  Each  commission  held  from  10  to  30 
meetings  and  examined  from  100  to  200  witnesses,  representing 
employers,  trade  unions  and  other  interests  concerned,  and  con- 
sidered statements  in  writing  submitted  by  interested  parties, 

A  summary  of  the  various  reports  was  made  by  Mr.  Barnes 
of  the  War  Cabinet,  which  covers  in  a  succinct  way  the  principal 
conclusions  and  recommendations  of  the  several  divisions  of  the 
commission.  In  this  summary  the  following  causes  of  industrial 
unrest  as  revealed  by  the  inquiries  of  the  several  divisions  are  set 
forth: 

1.  High  food  prices  in  relation  to  wages,  and  unequal  distribution  of 
food. 

2.  Restriction  of  personal  freedom  and,  in  particular,  the  effects  of  the 
Munitions  of  War  Acts.  Workmen  have  been  tied  up  to  particular  factories 
and  have  been  unable  to  obtain  wages  in  relation  to  their  skill.  In  many 
cases  the  skilled  man's  wage  is  less  than  the  wage  of  the  unskilled.  Too 
much  centralization  in  London  is  reported. 

3.  Lack  of  confidence  in  the  government.  This  is  due  to  the  surrender  of 
trade  union  customs  and  the  feeling  that  promises  as  regards  their  restora- 
tion will  not  be  kept.  It  has  been  emphasized  by  the  omission  to  record 
changes  of  working  conditions  under  Schedule  2,  Article  7,  of  the  Munitions 
of  War  Act. 

4.  Delay  in  settlement  of  disputes.  In  some  instances  10  weeks  have 
elapsed  without  a  settlement,  and  after  a  strike  has  taken  place,  the  matter 
has  been  put  right  within  a  few  days. 

5.  Operation  of  the  Military  Service  Acts. 

6.  Lack  of  housing  in  certain  areas. 

7.  Restrictions  on  liquor.     This  is  marked  in  certain  areas. 

8.  Industrial  fatigue. 

9.  Lack  of  proper  organization  among  the  unions. 

10.  Lack  of  commercial  sense.  This  is  noticeable  in  South  Wales,  where 
there  has  been  a  breakaway  from  faith  in  parliamentary  representation. 

IL  Inconsiderate  treatment  of  women,  whose  wages  are  sometimes  as  low 
as  13s.  ($3.16). 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  245 

12.  Delay  in  granting  pensions  to  soldiers,  especially  those  in  class  "W" 
reserves. 

13.  Raising  of  the  limit  of  income  tax  exemption. 

14.  The  Workmen's  Compensation  Act.  The  maximum  of  i\  ($4.87) 
weekly  is  now  inadequate.^ 

The  Barnes  summary  gives  the  high  prices  and  unequal  dis- 
tribution of  food,  the  operations  of  the  Munitions  of  War  Acts, 
including  the  matter  of  leaving  certificates  and  the  failure  to  keep 
a  record  of  the  changes  in  working  conditions  and  the  operation 
of  the  Military  Service  Acts  as  the  universal  causes  of  unrest. 
The  want  of  sufficient  housing  accommodations,  the  liquor  re- 
strictions and  industrial  fatigue,  it  reports  as  acute  causes  in 
certain  districts,  but  not  universal  causes  of  unrest.  The  other 
causes,  it  apparently  regards  as  either  local  in  character  or 
having  their  root  in  certain  psychological  conditions.  This  psy- 
chological condition  reveals  itself  first  of  all  in  a  lack  of  confi- 
dence in  the  government's  promises  and  in  the  trade  union 
officials.  Many  of  the  causes  mentioned  are  merely  manifes- 
tations of  this  psychological  condition. 

The  reports  of  the  several  commissions  differ  greatly  in  length 
and  in  the  thoroughness  of  treatment.  The  discu^ion  afforded 
by  the  commissioners  from  the  southwest  area,  for  instance,  is 
comprised  within  the  limits  of  seven  pages  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics  reprint,  while  that  from  the  commissioners 
for  Wales  and  Monmouthshire  covers  eighty-one  pages, 
describes  the  various  industries  within  the  district,  the  distri- 
bution of  the  population,  the  growth  of  industrial  com- 
binations, especially  in  the  mining  industry,  the  character  and 
extent  of  labor  organization,  and  gives  a  very  interesting  dis- 
cussion of  the  effect  of  the  physical  and  industrial  environment 
upon  the  feelings  and  modes  of  thought  of  the  inhabitants  and 
shows  how  this  naturally  leads  to  industrial  unrest.  This  report, 
like  several  others,  concerns  itself  with  the  permanent  causes  of 
industrial  unrest  as  well  as  those  which  have  arisen  during  the 
war.    The  permanent  causes  it  divides  into  economic,  social  and 

1  Industrial  Unrest  in  Great  Britain.  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics.  No.  237.  October.  1917,  p.  10.  All  references  to  this  report 
are  to  the  reprint  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics. 


246  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITION'S    AND   LEGISLATION 

political.  Stated  briefly,  they  are :  the  steady  movement  to  raise 
the  standard  of  living,  discontent  with  the  housing  accommoda- 
tion and  the  unwholesome  and  unattractive  environment,  and 
political  propaganda  designed  to  overthrow  the  capitalist  system.^ 
As  these  causes  are,  for  the  most  part,  independent  of  the  war, 
they  are  not  dealt  with  at  length  in  the  Barnes  summary  and  will 
not  be  further  considered  here.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that 
they  are  probably  more  fundamental  causes  of  industrial  dis- 
content than  those  which  have  arisen  during  the  war. 

Considering  the  principal  causes  of  industrial  unrest  in  the 
order  in  which  they  are  placed  in  the  Barnes  summary,  we  find 
that  practically  all  of  them  are  mentioned  in  each  of  the  eight 
reports,  although  opinions  vary  somewhat  as  to  their  relative 
importance. 

High  Prices  and  Profiteering 

1.  There  is  general  agreement  that  the  high  prices  of  food,  the 
failure  of  wages  to  advance  in  equal  ratio  and  a  belief  that  the 
high  prices  are  largely  due  to  profiteering  and  faults  in  distribu- 
tion, constiti»te  the  chief  causes  of  industrial  unrest.^  Some  of 
the  commissions  went  so  far  as  to  state  that  if  the  food  problem 
could  be  solved,  the  other  causes  of  unrest  would  disappear  or 
become  of  minor  importance,  and  in  several  districts  the  testi- 
mony of  witnesses  was  quoted  to  the  effect  that  the  laborers 
would  gladly  forego  any  advances  in  wages  which  they  had 
received  if  food  prices  could  be  reduced  to  the  prewar  basis.^ 

Agreement  among  the  commissions  as  to  the  cause  of  the  high 
prices  was  not  quite  so  general.  All  of  them  report  witnesses  as 
stating  that  the  high  prices  are  due  mainly,  if  not  entirely,  to 
profiteering.  Among  the  laboring  classes  this  feeling  was,  as  the 
West  Midland's  commissioners  said,  "  both  widespread  and 
dangerous."  *  It  was  generally  felt  that  the  government  was 
to  blame  for  not  having  dealt  in  an  effective  manner  with  this 
evil.     Evidence  as  to  profiteering  was  generally  not  given,  the 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  159-161. 

2  [bid.,  pp.  43,  77,  207. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  16,  77,  97,  206. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  98. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  247 

opinions  as  to  its  existence  resting  upon  the  reports  of  the  large 
dividends  being  earned  by  many  industries,  upon  reports  as  to 
the  low  cost  of  meats  at  the  port  of  importation,  upon  reports  of 
the  rotting  of  food  at  distant  points  of  the  kingdom  and  upon 
the  personal  observation  of  the  witnesses  of  signs  of  luxurious 
living  by  employers  and  their  families.  Some  of  the  commis- 
sions express  doubts  as  to  whether  any  considerable  amount  of 
profiteering  has  really  taken  place.  Thus  the  commission  for 
Wales  and  Monmouthshire  says : 

We  are  unable  to  find  evidence  of  any  considerable  profiteering  on  the  part 
of  the  retail  trade  generally,  nor  do  we  think  .  .  .  that  any  large  part  of  the 
increase  is  attributable  to  excessive  freight  paid  to  shipowners.  In  so  far 
as  bread  is  concerned,  we  have  similarly  to  exonerate  bakers,  but  we  were 
unable  to  obtain  any  evidence  from  millers  and  wholesale  grain  importers.^ 

Even  those  commissions  that  did  not  accept,  unquestioningly, 
tiie  charge  of  profiteering  felt  obliged  to  urge  that  government 
action  be  taken  to  reduce  the  cost  of  food  and  to  stamp  out 
profiteering  in  connection  with  the  distribution  of  food 
supplies.^ 

The  explanations  given  by  the  commissioners  themselves  of 
the  increased  cost  of  foods  vary  greatly  and  include  among  other 
things,  speculation,  inflation  of  the  currency,  high  freight  rates, 
destruction  of  ships  by  submarines,  actual  shortage  of  supplies 
and  faulty  systems  of  distribution. 

The  remedies  suggested  are  equally  diverse.  Some  of  the 
commissions  propose  a  limitation  of  profits  of  producers,  whole- 
salers and  retailers.^  Others  suggest  that  the  government 
stabilize  prices  and  make  up  any  losses  to  producers  or  traders 
from  the  publici  funds.*  Other  suggestions  are  a  greater  use  of 
the  cooperative  societies  and  other  existing  agencies  for  effecting 
a  better  distribution  of  food  supplies,^  an  immediate  reduction 
of  prices,*  or,  if  this  be  not  possible,  increasing  wages  in  the 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  180. 

2  [bid.,  p.  181. 

3  Ihid..  pp.  40.  82,  115. 
<  [bid.,  pp.  16,  82. 

B  Ibid.,  p.  45. 

« Ibid.,  pp.  103,  192,  208. 


248  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

lower  paid  industries  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  the  cost 
of  living.^ 

The  most  elaborate  and  best  considered  plan  is  that  suggested 
by  the  commission  for  Wales  and  Monmouthshire,  which  pro- 
vides : 

1.  All  excess  profits  derivable  from  the  sale  and  distribution  of  com- 
modities for  home  consumption  to  be  appropriated  by  the  state. 

2.  The  purchase  by  the  government,  in  so  far  as  possible,  of  all  imported 
food  supplies  in  the  country  where  produced  and  the  conveyance  thereof  to 
this  country  in  requisitioned  ships. 

3.  The  fixing  by  the  government  of  the  prices  to  be  charged  by  wholesale 
dealer,  middleman  and  retailer,  respectively,  in  respect  of  each  article  of 
food  sold  in  this  country,  as  is  already  done  in  the  case  of  cheese. 

4.  War  risk  insurance  on  food  supplies  to  be  regarded  henceforth  as  or- 
dinary war  expenditure,  instead  of  being  added  to  the  price  of  food  supplies. 

Only  one  or  two  of  the  commissions  refer  to  the  difficulties  and 
dangers  of  price  fixing,  but  they  seem  to  be  appreciated  by  the 
commission  for  the  southwest  area,  which  says : 

The  danger  of  fixing  prices  for  a  commodity  is,  of  course,  that  the  supply 
may  cease.  The  general  rule,  therefore,  should  be  not  to  fix  prices  unless 
the  whole  supply  is  controlled.  When  this  can  be  done  the  control  should 
extend  from  the  field  of  production  to  the  shop  counter,  and  intermediate 
charges  should  be  limited  to  a  fair  remuneration  for  services  rendered.^ 

Operation  of  Munitions  of  War  Acts 

2.  Restrictions  of  personal  freedom,  especially  those  arising 
from  the  operation  of  the  Munitions  of  War  Acts,  is  the  second 
cause  of  industrial  unrest,  as  given  in  the  Barnes  summary.  It 
is  closely  related  to  the  third  and  fourth  causes,  as  there  given, 
vis.,  lack  of  confidence  in  the  government,  and  delay  in  the 
settlement  of  disputes,  and  is  not  differentiated  from  them  in  the 
discussion  by  the  eight  commissions.  The  three  causes,  all  aris- 
ing mainly  from  the  operations  of  the  Munitions  Acts,  will  there- 
fore be  considered  at  this  point. 

It  is  quite  evident  from  a  perusal  of  the  various  reports  that 
the  rank  and  file  of  trade  unionists  had  never  accepted  the  idea 
that  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  their  personal  freedom  by  the 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  192. 
2 /&«/.,  p.  120. 


INDUSTRIAL   UNREST  249 

Munitions  of  War  Acts  were  necessary,  and  their  dissatisfaction 
with  the  laws  increased,  rather  than  diminished,  as  time  went  on. 
Their  dissatisfaction  was  not  alone  with  the  government.  One 
of  its  most  striking  manifestations  was  the  distrust  which  the 
men  had  come  to  have  for  the  trade  union  executives  who  had 
accepted  the  principles  underlying  the  Munitions  Acts  and  had 
consented  to  the  incorporation  of  these  principles  into  legislation. 
Evidences  of  this  lack  of  faith  in  their  leaders  appear  in  the 
reports  from  nearly  every  district,  but  are  best  set  forth  in  the 
report  of  the  commissioners  for  the  Yorkshire  and  East  Mid- 
lands area,  which  declares  that 

a  belief  has  been  engendered  in  practically  all  the  members  of  the  Amal- 
gamated Society  of  Engineers  and  kindred  societies  we  have  examined, 
whether  of  the  advanced  or  moderate  section  of  thought,  that  the  executive 
officers  of  their  unions  are  now  powerless  to  assist  them  in  their  present 
difficulties.  .  .  . 

The  result  of  this  apparently  universal  distrust  alike  of  the  trade  union 
executive  and  of  the  government  departments  who  act  with,  and  through 
them,  has  led  to  the  formation  of  a  vigorous  defensive  organization  for  the 
protection  of  the  workmen  inside  their  own  separate  workshops,  known  as 
the  "  shop  committee "  or  "  rank  and  file "  movement,  with  shop  stewards 
elected  from  the  workers  in  every  shop.^ 

This  organization  the  commissioners  go  on  to  say  "  threatens 
to  become,  in  our  opinion,  a  most  serious  menace  to  the  authority 
and  entire  work  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers  and 
other  skilled  workers'  unions."  ^ 

The  subjects  of  complaints  arising  from  the  operation  of  the 
Munitions  Acts  were : 

(a)  leaving  certificates; 

(b)  the  dilution  of  labor; 

(c)  failure  to  record  changes  of  practice  as  provided  under  Article  7  of 
Schedule  2  of  the  Act  of  1915 ; 

(d)  inequality  of  earnings  as  between  skilled  and  semi-skilled  or  un- 
skilled labor; 

(e)  inability  or  unwillingness  to  restore  prewar  conditions; 

(f)  arbitrary  or  unsatisfactory  action  of  the  munitions  tribunals; 

(g)  delay  in  securing  settlements  in  matters  in  controversy  when  these 
matters  are  submitted  to  the  Committee  on  Production  or  the  Ministry  of 
Munitions. 

^Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  77-78. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  78. 


250  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

(a)  Most  of  the  commissions  said  relatively  little  concerning 
the  matter  of  leaving  certificates,  for  while  these  certificates  more 
than  anything  else  required  by  the  Munitions  Acts  gave  rise  to 
discontent,  it  was  generally  understood,  while  the  commissioners 
were  sitting,  that  the  government  proposed  to  modify  those  sec- 
tions of  the  acts  which  dealt  with  leaving  certificates  in  such  a 
way  as  practically  to  abolish  them. 

The  men  felt  that  to  require  them  to  obtain  the  consent  either 
of  their  employer  or  of  a  munitions  tribunal  before  they  could 
leave  their  place  of  employment  to  obtain  work  elsewhere,  even 
at  higher  wages,  practically  placed  them  in  a  condition  of  indus- 
trial servitude.  The  commissions  were  practically  unanimous  in 
giving  their  approval  to  the  abolition  of  the  leaving  certificates, 
although  some  of  them  stated  that  employers  were  fearful  of  the 
results  on  the  mobility  of  labor  from  the  withdrawal  of  .the 
certificates,  and  the  laborers  were  apprehensive  over  the  condi- 
tions which  it  was  understood  would  be  substituted  for  the  leav- 
ing certificates  when  the  latter  were  withdrawn. 

(b)  Dilution  of  labor  was  complained  of  much  more  in  some 
districts  than  in  others.  Opposition  to  it  seemed  to  be  slight  when 
the  workers  were  convinced  of  its  necessity.  Complaint  was 
made,  however,  that  the  workers  were  not  consulted,  nor  their 
consent  obtained  by  employers,  before  attempting  dilution,  as 
they  apparently  felt  was  called  for  by  the  Munitions  Acts. 
Opposition  was  much  stronger  to  the  proposal  to  extend  dilu- 
tion to  private  work.  The  workers  claimed  that  this  was  a 
direct  violation  of  the  promises  made  by  the  government  at  the 
time  the  Munitions  Acts  were  adopted.  To  extend  the  plan  to 
commercial  undertakings  seemed  to  them  merely  a  method  of 
increasing  the  profits  of  private  owners.  It  was  the  last  straw 
in  an  accumulation  of  burdens  which  had  been  imposed  upon  the 
workers  by  a  government  which  had  refused  to  listen  to  their 
complaints  and  when  complaints  to  trade  union  of^cials  were  in 
vain  the  shop  stewards  took  it  upon  themselves  to  call  strikes 
in  the  spring  of  1917  and  they  found  a  willing  response  on  the 
part  of  thousands  of  workers.^ 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  82. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  251 

All  the  commissions  which  made  recommendations  concerning 
the  matter  urged  that  great  caution  be  exercised  by  the  govern- 
ment in  extending  dilution  to  private  work  and  that,  if  it  were 
found  necessary  to  do  this,  the  matter  be  taken  up  with  the 
unions — not  merely  their  leaders — and  convincing  reasons  be 
furnished  as  to  the  necessity  for  this  step. 

(c)  The  complaint  of  failure  to  record  changes  of  practice  on 
the  part  of  employers,  as  provided  by  Article  7  of  Schedule  2 
of  the  Munitions  Act  of  1915,  was  not  general.  The  commis- 
sioners for  the  northwest  area  said  that  "  the  system  of  record- 
ing in  this  district  seems  to  be  well  conceived  and  carefully  car- 
ried out."  ^  Such  complaints  as  existed  were  confined  to  a  few 
trades  and  were  due  to  a  want  of  knowledge  of  the  methods 
adopted. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  complaints  in  regard  to  this 
matter  were  not  supported  by  evidence.  They  seem  to  have  been 
merely  the  outcome  of  suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  workers  that 
employers  were  not  recording  all  changes.  The  acts  themselves 
provided  a  remedy  for  any  difficulty  arising  from  this  source 
and  the  government  had  provided  the  machinery  for  its  enforce- 
ment. Differences  of  opinion  in  regard  to  what  constituted  a 
real  change  of  practice  might  easily  arise,  but  such  differences 
of  opinion  might  be  referred,  to  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  for 
its  decision  in  regard  to  the  matter. 

(d)  The  complaint  as  to  inequality  of  earnings  between  skilled 
and  semi-skilled  or  unskilled  workers  presented  a  real  difficulty 
for  which  none  of  the  commissions  had  a  satisfactory  solution  to 
propose.  The  difficulty  was  largely  one  of  the  trade  unions'  own 
making.  In  order  to  protect  the  wage  standards  which  the 
unions  had  built  up  before  the  war,  they  secured  a  promise  from 
the  government  that  where  semi-skilled  or  unskilled  labor  was 
put  on  to  do  the  work  which  had  been  done  by  skilled  workers  be- 
fore the  war  the  same  rates  of  pay  for  that  work  should  continue 
and  there  should  be  no  reduction  in  price  rates.  The  consequences 
were  such  as  could  hardly  have  been  foreseen.    The  splitting  up 

^Industrial  Unrest,  he.  cit.,  pp.  21-22. 


252  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

of  the  processes  of  work  so  that  they  could  be  done  by  workers 
of  httle  training  and  the  introduction  of  improved  machinery 
enabled  these  new  laborers,  working  at  repetition  work  and  at  the 
old  piece  rates,  to  earn  sums  undreamed  of  before  the  war  and 
more  than  was  being  earned  by  the  skilled  worker,  usually  a 
member  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,  who  was 
working  on  time  rates  and  was  in  some  cases  supervising  the 
work  of  these  highly  paid  piece  rate  workers.  The  situation  in 
these  trades  is  eloquently  set  forth  in  the  report  of  the  com- 
missioners for  the  West  Midlands  area : 

In  the  engineering  trade  £A  ($19.47)  a  week  for  a  man  or  woman  who 
has  entered  the  trade  since  the  war  is  not  an  unusual  wage ;  whilst  in  many 
cases  the  wage  reaches  £6,  £8,  and  ilO  ($29.90,  $38.93,  and  $48.67)  a  week  or 
even  more,  all,  be  it  understood,  by  workers  with  no  previous  experience. 
At  the  same  time  the  tool  maker  and  the  gauge  maker,  both  skilled  men, 
whose  skill  is  the  basis  on  which  the  machine  operates,  are  still  working  on 
a  prewar  rate,  plus  the  bonuses  and  advances  received  since  the  war,  but, 
taking  all  these  into  account,  are  receiving  considerably  less  than  the  piece 
worker. 

The  result  may  be  imagined.  The  skilled  man  with  a  life's  experience 
behind  him  sees  a  girl  or  youth,  whom  perhaps  he  himself  has  taught,  earning 
twice  as  much  as  he  does.  The  injury  to  his  self-respect  is  as  great  as  that 
to  his  pocket.  His  grievance  is  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the  leaving 
certificate  system  prevents  him  from  taking  up  repetition  work  himself. 
The  hard  case  of  these  men  is  recognized  by  the  employer  equally  with  the 
workman.  Many  employers  would  welcome  any  scheme  whereby  a  bigger 
share  of  the  wages  paid  went  to  the  tool  maker.  Their  difficulty  is  that 
they  are  forbidden  to  take  anything  from  the  piece  worker  and  give  it  to  the 
day  worker,  for  this  would  in  fact  be  to  reduce  piece  rates,  and  unless  they 
can  do  this  they  do  not  see  their  way  to  increase  wages.^ 

Although  all  the  commissions  had  something  to  say  concerning 
these  inequalities  of  earnings  among  operatives,  there  were  few 
practicable  remedies  proposed.  To  withdraw  the  prohibition  on 
reducing  piece  rates,  or  to  pool  the  earnings,  so  that  the  super- 
visors and  tool  makers  would  receive  a  larger  share  than  the  piece 
workers,  would  subject  the  government  to  the  charge  of  having 
broken  its  pledges  to  the  workers.  It  was  proposed  that  the  tool 
maker  be  placed  on  piece  work,  but  trade  unionists  and  some 
employers  did  not  consider  this  practicable.  The  one  practicable 
solution  was  to  grant  the  supervisor  or  skilled  worker  a  bonus 
-'^Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  96. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  253 

on  the  output  of  the  factory  or  department,  but  this  meant  an 
increase  in  the  wage  bill  and  naturally  was  objected  to  by 
employers.^ 

(e)  Fear  on  the  part  of  the  workers  that  employers  would  not 
carry  out  their  obligations  to  restore  prewar  conditions  when 
once  the  war  was  over  rested  in  part  on  mere  suspicion  of  lack 
of  good  faith  on  the  part  of  employers  and  the  government  and 
in  part  on  the  impracticability  of  carrying  out  such  a  restoration 
in  view  of  the  changes  which  were  being  wrought  in  industry. 
This  question  of  the  restoration  of  prewar  conditions,  said  the 
commissioners  from  the  northwest  area,  is  "  probably  the  ques- 
tion which  most  exercises  the  minds  of  the  industrial  community 
— employers  as  well  as  employes,"  -  and  the  commissioners  from 
other  districts  seem  almost  equally  concerned  over  the  matter.^ 
Furthermore,  the  commissioners  seem,  in  some  instances,  to 
share  the  workers'  uncertainty  as  to  the  practicability  of  keeping 
the  promises.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  do  not  doubt  but  that  the 
pledges  can  and  will  be  kept  and  they  express  the  desire  that  the 
government  reiterate  its  promises.*  Others  think  that  the  doubt 
in  the  minds  of  the  workers  arises  from  the  fact  that  they  see  no 
tangible  evidence  that  the  government  is  making  provision  for 
meeting  the  conditions  which  will  arise  after  the  war.^  Still 
others  feel  that  the  government  should  make  clear  to  the  men 
that  if  variations  have  to  be  made  these  will  be  made  with  the 
assent  of  the  unions." 

(f  and  g)  Dissatisfaction  with  the  work  of  the  munitions 
tribunals  and  complaints  of  delay  in  securing  settlements  in 
matters  of  controversy  between  employers  and  employes, 
whether  these  matters  were  referred  to  the  tribunals,  to  the 
Committee  on  Production  or  to  the  Ministry  of  Munitions,  were 
cited  by  nearly  all  the  commissions  as  causes  of  industrial  unrest. 

In  the  northeast  area  "  delay  in  securing  arbitration  on  the 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  21,  25,  83,  102. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  24. 

sibid.,  pp.  109,  118.  179. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  25,  56,  83,  121,  180. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  25. 

•Ibid.,  pp.  95,  102,  215. 


254  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

question  of  wages  "  was  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  causes  for 
the  strike  of  the  engineers  in  the  spring  of  1917.^  Too  much 
government  control  in  these  matters  is  complained  of  in  the 
northwest  area,  and  delay  due  to  the  fact  that  the  settlement  of 
disputes  has  to  be  referred  to  London.^  In  the  West  Mid- 
lands and  in  the  southeastern  area  the  work  of  the  munitions 
tribunals  is  objected  to  and  the  men  feel  humiliated  because  the 
meetings  are  held  in  the  police  court  with  its  "  objectionable 
criminal  atmosphere."  ^  Great  delay  when  appeals  are  taken  to 
the  Committee  on  Production  or  the  Minister  of  Munitions  is 
also  complained  of  in  some  districts  and  the  ambiguous  terms  in 
which  the  awards  are  drawn  are  a  further  cause  of  complaint.* 

In  Wales  the  commission  finds  that  "  delays  on  the  part  of  the 
government  in  effecting  settlements  of  disputes  have  proved  a 
frequent  source  of  irritation  and  in  more  than  one  instance  have 
led  to  stoppages  of  work  in  industries  of  national  importance."  ^ 
This  commission  also  claims  that  the  machinery  set  up  to  deal 
with  disputes  and  claims  for  advances  is  too  cumbrous,  and  the 
persons  selected  to  deal  with  these  matters  are  "  often  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  conditions  obtaining  in  the  industry  affected."  " 

The  commission  for  Scotland  reports  that  workmen  and  their 
representatives  find  by  experience  that  they  get  prompt  consid- 
eration of  their  grievances  only  when  they  threaten  to  go  out 
on  a  strike.'^  Several  of  the  commissions  give  their  approval  to 
the  principles  set  forth  in  the  report  of  the  reconstruction  com- 
mittee as  affording  a  practicable  method  of  settling  industrial 
differences. 

Operation  of  Military  Service  Acts 

3.  The  operation  of  the  Military  Service  Acts  is  the  third  of 
the  major  causes  of  industrial  unrest  as  given  in  the  Barnes 
summary. 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  26. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  48-49. 

3  7feid.,  pp.  93,  112. 
^Ibid.,  p.  97. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  164. 
8/6id.,  pp.  211-212. 
7  Ibid.,  pp.  164-165. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  255 

Complaints  are  reported  by  the  commissions  from  all  the  dis- 
tricts in  regard  to  the  matter,  but  the  causes  for  complaint  vary, 
and  a  consideration  of  the  several  reports  shows  that  much  of  the 
discontent  was  due  to  a  lack  of  understanding  as  to  the  neces- 
sity for  certain  military  measures  or  for  a  reversal  of  policies. 
Nearly  all  the  commissions  are  careful  to  state  that  the  great 
majority  of  laborers  in  their  district  are  loyal  and  that  they  do 
not  oppose  military  conscription.  Yet  all  of  them  assert  that 
the  workers  are  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  operation  of  the 
acts.  The  commission  for  Scotland  probably  expresses  the 
opinion  held  everywhere  when  it  says : 

The  whole  system  of  the  operation  of  the  Military  Acts  is,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  great  bulk  of  the  working  classes,  an  exhibition  of  bungling  incom- 
petence, and  of  exasperating  dilatory  methods.^ 

The  chief  causes  of  complaint  are : 

(1)  Exemption  of  skilled  laborers  in.  certain  unions  by  the 
trade  card  scheme.  This  mode  of  procedure  was  objected  to  by 
the  unions  to  which  it  did  not  apply  and  by  nonunionists,  as  well. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  the  trade  card  scheme  was  withdrawn, 
the  unions  affected,  like  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers, 
complained  of  broken  government  pledges  and  also  complained 
that  they  had  been  put  to  great  expense  in  preparation  for  the 
issuance  of  cards  which  were  withdrawn  before  the  system  had 
really  gone  into  operation.  At  the  time  the  several  commissions 
made  their  reports,  however,  the  trade  card  scheme  was  not 
causing  serious  unrest  and  most  of  the  commissions  were  of  the 
opinion  that  its  withdrawal  was  a  good  thing. 

(2)  The  schedule  of  protected  occupations  (M.  M.  130)  which 
was  substituted  for  the  trade  card  scheme  was  criticized  for  the 
following  reasons : 

(a)  It  gave  protection  only  where  a  claim  for  protection  was  made  out  and 

thus  threw  the  burden  of  proof  upon  the  worker  to  show  that  he 
should  be  granted  exemption. 

(b)  Those  workers  who  were  refused  exemption  could  not  understand  the 

reason  for  the  refusal  when  men  in  other  trades  who  were  bad  time 
keepers  or  indifferent  workers  were  exempt,  merely  because  they  had 
selected  certain  occupations  which  were  called  "  protected  trades." 

(c)  There  was  more  or  less  confusion  in  issuing  the  red  and  black  cards 
*  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  217. 


256  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

under  the  new  system,  and  owing  to  this  confusion  and  to  changing 
regulations  men  did  not  know  what  was  their  exact  status. 

(d)  There  was  complaint  that  employers  in  the  protected  trades  undertook 

to  intimidate  their  men  by  threatening  to  release  them  for  military 
service  if  they  persisted  in  trade  union  activities  or  resented  im- 
position. 

(e)  The   men   who  had   been  granted   the   right  of  appeal   to  enlistment 

complaint  committees  supposed  that  they  would  be  heard  in  person 
by  these  committees.  Instead  it  seems  to  have  been  the  practice  to 
decide  the  appeal  solely  on  the  basis  of  the  statement  made  by  the 
man  on  the  printed  form  sent  him.  The  commission  for  the  north- 
west area  says : 

"  It  may  be  that  appeals  in  many  cases  are  dilatory  and  frivolous, 
but  it  passes  our  comprehension  how  any  man  can  claim  that  he  is 
possessed  of  a  judical  instinct  acute  enough  to  decide  this  question 
merely  by  reading  an  official  form  filled  up  by  an  uneducated  man."  ^ 

(f)  Skilled  men  claimed  that  unskilled  men  (dilutants)  got  red  cards  while 

they  could  get  only  black  ones. 

(g)  Married    men    claimed    that    unmarried    men    were    frequently    given 

preference  over  them. 

(3)  There  were  other  and  perhaps  minor  causes  of  complaint 
in  regard  to  the  Military  Service  Acts,  such  as  objection  to  the 
employment  in  industry  of  Belgians  of  military  age,  complaints 
that  men  once  rejected  were  not  allowed  to  settle  down  with  an 
assurance  that  they  would  not  again  be  called  up,  that  men  who 
had  fought  and  been  discharged  were  again  called  up,  that  con- 
scientious objectors  were  not  exempt,  that  businesses  built  up  by 
an  individual  were  not  given  due  consideration,  that  army  of- 
ficials at  times  refused  to  meet  trade  union  officials  to  discuss 
grievances  of  the  men,  that  officers  handling  recruiting  lacked 
business  experience,  that  medical  boards  were  incompetent  and 
were  subjecting  men  to  unfair  treatment  in  their  examinations  and 
that  skilled  men  who  had  passed  a  trade  test  and  were  employed 
on  work  of  national  importance  were  drafted  into  labor  or  work 
battalions,  where  they  spent  months  on  work  which  did  not 
require  technical  training. 

Most  of  these  matters  the  commissions  admitted  were  faults 
of  administration  and  could  be  easily  remedied.     It  was  sug- 
gested by  several  of  the  commissions  that  a  great  part  of  the 
unrest  caused  by  the  Military   Service  Acts  could  have  been 
^Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  58-59. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  257 

avoided  if  the  government  had  been  more  open  with  the  public 
and  had  made  clear  the  reason  for  its  actions.  It  was  also 
suggested  that  the  lists  of  protected  occupations  needed  revision 
and  that  the  unions  which  had  men  in  these  occupations 
should  be  authorized  to  distribute  exemption  cards  to  their 
members.^ 

Lack  of  Coordination  between  Government  Departments 
Dealing  with  Labor 

4.  The  Barnes  summary  admits  that  there  is  general  com- 
plaint through  all  the  districts  that  there  is  "  a  want  of  coordina- 
tion between  government  departments  dealing  with  labor."  ^  An 
examination  of  the  reports  made  by  the  several  commissions 
shows  that  the  chief  matters  complained  of  under  this  heading 
are  as  follows : 

(1)  There  are  too  many  departments  dealing  with  labor 
matters  and  employers  and  workmen  are  often  at  a  loss  to  know 
which  department  to  approach  when  they  seek  an  adjustment  of 
their  differences. 

(2)  Every  little  detail  in  regard  to  industrial  relations  has  to 
be  referred  to  London. 

(3)  There  is  unnecessary  delay  in  taking  up  and  settling 
disputes. 

(4)  Contradictory  orders  and  directions  are  sent  out  from  the 
different  departments. 

(5)  There  is  industrial  interference  by  London  officials  who 
do  not  understand  local  conditions. 

The  following  recommendations  are  made  as  to  the  best 
method  of  lessening  this  confusion  and  interference. 

(1)  Employers  and  workmen  should  be  given  more  freedom 
to  settle  their  own  differences. 

(2)  There  should  be  a  greater  centralization  of  the  govern- 
ment departments  dealing  with  labor  and  only  one  recognized 
channel  (the  Minister  of  Labor)  for  all  communications  relating 

1  Indusfrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit'.,  p.  88. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  11. 


258  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

to  labor.     Reference  should  be  made  by  him  to  the  appropriate 
department. 

(3)  High  officials  of  labor  and  munitions,  clothed  with 
authority  to  settle  most  differences,  should  reside  in  each  area, 
and  be  ready  to  visit  at  a  moment's  notice  localities  where 
unrest  appears. 

The  Barnes  summary,  while  admitting  that  there  may  be  a 
want  of  coordination  between  the  government  departments  deal- 
ing with  labor,  says  that  much  of  what  has  been  said  in  the 
reports  concerning  this  matter  arises  from  a  lack  of  a  clear 
understanding  of  departmental  administration.  "  It  seems 
hardly  possible  that  any  single  department  could  during  the 
war  carry  the  whole  of  the  immense  problems  of  the  supply 
departments  which  have  bearing  upon  the  control  of  labor."  ^ 

The  matters  just  discussed  under  the  four  headings  given 
constitute  the  universal  causes  of  unrest,  reported  on  by  the 
commissions  from  all  areas.  There  are  in  addition  to  these 
several  other  causes  which  are  acute  in  several  districts  and 
which  will  be  briefly  discussed  here. 

Bad  Housing  Conditions 

1.  The  housing  conditions  are  shown  to  be  serious  in  several 
areas.  The  commission  for  the  northwest  area  made  a  special 
report  for  Barrow  in  Furness  and  declared  that  the  situation 
in  that  place  and  the  failure  of  either  the  government  or  the 
municipality  to  take  any  practical  steps  to  deal  with  the  matter 
"  has  now  become  a  crying  scandal."  ^ 

Barrow  is  an  important  munition  center  in  an  isolated  corner 
of  the  northwest  of  England.  It  is  there  that  the  engineering 
establishment  of  Vickers  (Ltd.)  is  located.  This  plant  alone  had 
increased  its  working  population  during  the  war  from  16,000  to 
35,000,  of  whom  6,000  are  women.  Already  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  "  there  was  a  well  recognized  shortage  of  houses  in 
Barrow."     The  commissioners  give  figures  which   show  that 

1  Industrial   Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  11. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  67. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  259 

whereas  in  1913  there  were  13,259  houses  to  accommodate  a 
population  of  approximately  69,000,  at  the  end  of  March,  1917, 
there  were  only  14,791  houses  to  hold  a  population  in  excess 
of  85,000.  Vickers  had  supplied  nearly  half  of  the  additional 
houses  built  during  the  war  period. 

The  commissioners  cited  instances  (1)  where  nine  and  even 
ten  people  lived  in  one  room,  (2)  where  women  had  been  con- 
fined in  a  room  where  several  other  members  of  the  family  and 
a  lodger  lived,  (3)  where  women  expecting  confinement  were 
forced  to  leave  their  apartments  without  there  being  other  places 
to  receive  them,  and  other  shocking  cases  of  overcrowding. 
They  were  very  bitter  in  their  criticism  of  the  authorities  for 
having  failed  to  remedy  the  situation,  which  was  all  the  more 
inexcusable  when  one  remembers  that  under  the  munitions  acts 
workmen  were  unable  voluntarily  to  leave  employment  in  a 
munitions  plant  to  seek  employment  elsewhere  under  more 
favorable  circumstances. 

In  Wales  and  Monmouth  the  conditions  under  which  people 
lived  in  the  mining  villages  "  in  sunless  houses  and  in  dark  back 
rooms  "  were  shown  to  be  affecting  the  working  capacities  of 
the  miners  and  their  dispositions  generally. 

The  workers  feel  deeply  discontented  with  their  housing  accommodation 
and  with  their  unwholesome  and  unattractive  environment  generally.  The 
towns  and  villages  are  ugly  and  overcrowded ;  houses  are  scarce  and  rents  are 
increasing,  and  the  surroundings  are  insanitary  and  depressing.  The  scenery 
is  disfigured  by  unsightly  refuse  tips,  the  atmosphere  polluted  by  coal  dust 
and  smoke  and  the  rivers  spoilt  by  liquid  refuse  from  works  and  factories. 
Facilities  for  education  and  recreation  are  inadequate  and  opportunities  for 
the  wise  use  of  leisure  are  few.^ 

The  situation  in  this  area,  it  will  be  noticed,  was  a  matter  not 
of  the  war's  creation  but  nevertheless  deserves  consideration  as 
one  of  the  causes  responsible  for  industrial  discontent. 

In  Scotland,  the  commissioners  reported,  that  they  had  had 
"  startling  revelations  of  the  acute  need  of  houses  in  industrial 
centers."  It  was  said  that  there  was 'immediate  need  of  100,000 
workers'  dwellings  and  that  there  had  been  practically  no  build- 
ing during  the  war,  and  that  even  before  that  the  need  of  houses 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  160. 


260  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

was  sorely  felt.  The  industrial  unrest  created  by  this  lack  of 
housing  accommodations  was  sufficient  to  warrant  immediate 
government  action/ 

These  were  the  only  areas  in  which  the  housing  question  was 
dealt  with  at  considerable  length,  but  the  commissions  from  the 
northeast,  the  southeast  and  the  southwest  areas  include  the 
lack  of  housing  accommodations  among  the  causes  for  industrial 
unrest.^ 

Liquor  Restrictions 

The  restrictions  on  the  sale  and  quantity  of  liquor  are  said  in 
the  Barnes  summary  to  be  one  of  the  acute  causes  of  unrest  in 
certain  districts.  Five  of  the  eight  commissions  discuss  the 
matter  as  applicable  to  their  areas.  The  commissioners  from 
the  Yorkshire  and  the  Wales  areas  do  not  mention  the  liquor 
restrictions  and  the  only  mention  of  them  made  by  the  com- 
missioners from  Scotland  is  to  say  that  it  is  "  a  remarkable 
fact  "  that  no  complaint  was  made  from  any  quarter  of  the  liquor 
restrictions.^ 

In  the  northeast  area  the  commissioners  say  that  while  "  the 
liquor  restrictions  have  not  generally  led  to  the  creation  of  indus- 
trial unrest,"  the  restrictions  on  the  quantity  of  beer  which  can 
be  brewed  had  led  to  resentment.  The  workers  believed  that  beer 
was  an  indispensable  beverage  for  men  in  the  so-called  "  hot  "  or 
"  heavy  "  trades.  If  they  were  convinced  that  the  restrictions  on 
brewing  were  necessary  in  the  interests  of  food  conservation,  the 
laborers  would  accept  them  with  loyal  acquiescence,  but  the  belief 
was  prevalent  that  the  food  conservation  need  was  being  used  as 
an  excuse  for  forcing  prohibition,  and  this  the  great  body  of 
workers  opposed.  The  commissioners  also  thought  that  some 
modifications  of  the  order  fixing  the  evening  closing  hour  at 
9  p.m.  for  licensed  premises  on  the  northeast  coast  might  be 
desirable  in  the  interests  of  the  men  who  worked  overtime.* 


^Industrial   Unrest,  he.  cit.,  p.  208. 
2/&tU,  pp.  18,  106,  119. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  221. 
*Ibid.,  pp.  17-18. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  261 

In  the  northwest  area  the  liquor  restrictions  were  said  to 
"  contribute  to  unrest  rather  than  cause  it."  One  employer 
observed  that  while  the  liquor  restrictions  were  perhaps  not  a 
cause  of  unrest,  they  were  "  a  source  of  a  considerable  loss  of 
social  temper."  The  com.missioners  expressed  the  opinion  that 
"  the  schemes  of  betterment "  of  temperance  reformers  "  must 
be  kept  in  their  proper  place  until  after  the  war."  They  ex- 
pressed about  the  same  views  as  the  commissioners  of  the  north- 
east had  done  in  regard  to  the  hours  of  closing,  but  said  "  the 
more  serious  cause  of  unrest "  is  in  regard  to  "  the  price  of  beer 
and  the  quality  supplied."  Government  control,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  commissioners,  should  extend  to  the  matter  of  insisting 
that  the  quality  of  the  beer  was  good  and  that  it  was  furnished 
.at  a  reasonable  price.^ 

The  supplementary  report  of  the  commission  dealing  with  the 
situation  at  Barrow  in  Furness  laid  emphasis  on  the  fact  that 
the  early  closing  hours  were  causing  customers  of  public  houses 
"  to  buy  bottles  of  spirits,  take  them  home  and  consume  them  too 
rapidly,"  which  the  commissioners  felt  was  especially  deplorable 
in  view  of  the  overcrowded  houses  in  Barrow.^ 

The  commissioners  for  the  West  Midlands  area  were  "  frankly 
amazed  at  the  strength  of  the  objections  to  the  liquor  restric- 
tions." Complaints  were  made  in  regard  to  "  hours,  price  and 
scarcity  "  and  of  these  the  last  was  "  by  far  the  most  galling."  ' 
The  commissioners  recommended  an  increase  in  the  supply  of 
beer  and  a  decrease  in  the  price.*  The  same  complaints  and 
recommendations  are  made  by  the  commission  for  the  southwest 
area,^ 

In  London  and  the  southeast  area,  it  is  said  that  "  the  restric- 
tion on  the  sale  of  beer  and  the  increase  in  the  price  of  it  has 
produced  hardship,  ill  feeling  and  irritation."  Inequality  in  the 
distribution  of  supplies  was  a  special  grievance  here.  "  In  Wool- 
wich, a  place  to  which  there  is  an  enormous  daily  immigration, 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  59-60. 

2  fbid.,  p.  72. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  98-99. 
*Ibid.,  p.  103. 
^Ibid.,  pp.  118,  120. 


262  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

public  houses  are  frequently  closed  for  days  together  on  account 
of  want  of  supplies."  ^ 

Industrial  Fatigue 

Industrial  fatigue  is  another  acute  but  not  universal  cause  of 
unrest,  according  to  the  Barnes  summary.  In  one  sense,  it  may 
be  said  to  underlie  all  other  causes.  Every  one  of  the  commis- 
sions refers  to  its  existence  and  while  few  of  them  place  it  in 
the  front  rank  of  those  causes  responsible  for  industrial  unrest, 
there  is  plenty  of  evidence  to  indicate  that  it  may  be  a  predis- 
posing cause  for  complaint  in  regard  to  other  matters. 

The  workmen  are  tired  and  overstrained,  and  this  is  not  the  only  result 
of  their  work,  but  is  also  due  to  the  nervous  strain  of  the  war.    (Division  4.)  2 

Continued  work  often  carried  out  under  anxieties  caused  by  the  war,  has 
tended  to  cause  strain  amongst  the  industrial  classes  just  as  it  has  amongst 
other  classes.      (Division   1.)  ^ 

Men  begin  to  ask  themselves  whether  the  sacrifices  they  are  making  are 
really  necessary.     (Division  2.)  * 

There  is  ample  evidence  to  show  that  the  continuous  labor  and  duly 
extended  hours  during  the  war  have  caused  a  state  of  nervous  exhaustion  in 
large  numbers  of  workers  which  has  made  them  more  susceptible  to  influ- 
ences contributing  to  unrest.     (Division  5.)  ° 

Considerable  evidence  was  given  of  industrial  fatigue,  especially  among 
the  classes  who  have  been  kept  continuously  on  long  hours.     (Division  6.)  ^ 

A  condition  of  nervous  strain  produced  by  overwork,  uncertainty  as  to 
combing  out,  restrictions  on  liberty  and  the  like,  has  also  tended  to  ruffle 
the  tempers  of  the  men  and  to  make  them  highly  sensitive  to  real  and  fancied 
injustice.     (Division  7.)  "^ 

We  have  not  seen  any  evidence  that  these  (war  tension  and  industrial 
fatigue)  are  causes  of  industrial  unrest,  although  probably  they  are  aggra- 
vations of  it.     (Division  8.)  « 

The  workers  have  been  for  three  years  working  at  high  pressure  during  too 
long  hours  and  under  strenuous  workshop  conditions  never  before  experi- 
enced. They  have  been  denied  all  opportunities  of  relaxation  and  recupera- 
tion, and  this,  too,  at  a  time  when  there  was  an  ever  growing  physical 
weariness  and  fatigue.  There  is  among  some  of  them  a  regrettable  amount 
of  uncertainty  and  suspicion  as  to  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  war,  the  issues 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  108-109. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  99. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  27. 
*Ibid.,  p.  41. 
6/6t'<f,  p.  106. 
e/&id.,  p.  118. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  162. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  221. 


INDUSTRIAL   UNREST  263 

of  which  do  not  stand  out  as  clearly  as  they  did  in  the  autumn  of  1914.  The 
nerves  of  the  men  and  their  famiHes  are  racked  by  hard  workshop  condi- 
tions, low  and  unfair  wages  in  some  cases,  deficient  housing  accommoda- 
tions, war  sorrows  and  bereavements,  excessive  prices  of  food,  the  vagaries 
of  the  recruiting  officer,  and  withal  by  a  feehng  that  their  privileges  as 
members  of  certain  trade  unions  had  been  given  up  only  to  better  the  con- 
dition of  others  who  had  not  served  any  apprenticeship  to  their  trades. 
(Division  3.)  i 

Local  and  Minor  Causes 

Of  the  local  and  minor  causes  of  industrial  unrest  presented 
in  the  reports  of  the  several  commissions,  complaints  in  regard 
to  the  low  scale  of  remuneration  of  warehouse  workers,  railway 
clerks  and  national  health  insurance  agents  and  of  the  conditions 
of  work  of  railway  men  and  of  the  failure  to  carry  out  the 
promises  to  pay  women  workers  the  same  rates  of  pay  as  were 
given  men  for  the  same  work  are  made  by  the  commission  for 
the  northwest  area.^  The  employment  of  German  prisoners  in 
conjunction  with  British  workmen  and  the  better  conditions 
which  they  enjoy  are  subjects  of  complaint  in  London  and  the 
southeast.^  Low  wages  in  agriculture  and  the  autocratic  man- 
agement of  the  dockyards  by  the  Admiralty  are  dealt  with  by  the 
commission  from  the  southwest  area.* 

Casual  work  by  dock  and  wharf  laborers,  the  employment  of 
Chinese  labor  on  British  ships  while  British  seamen  are  unem- 
ployed, the  unsympathetic  attitude  of  some  employers  towards 
trade  unions  and  the  refusal  of  a  small  section  of  workers  to 
recognize  their  obligations  to  join  trade  unions,  are  considered  by 
the  commissioners  from  Wales  and  Monmouthshire  to  be  among 
the  permanent  economic  causes  of  industrial  unrest,  while  the 
lowering  of  the  income  tax  basis,  the  failure  to  take  steps  to  train 
and  employ  men  discharged  from  the  army  and  the  navy  and  the 
inadequacy  of  war  pensions,  separation  allowances  and  work- 
men's compensation  are  among  those  causes  for  discontent  which 
are  due  directly  to  the  war.^     Failure  to  pay  trade  union  dues, 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  81. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  60-63. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  109. 
*Ibid.,  p.  119 

<ilbid.,  pp.  159,  160;  184-186. 


264  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

competition  among  unions,  the  inadequacy  of  the  sum  (£5 — 
$24.33)  allowed  to  seamen  who  lose  their  kits  through  a  vessel 
being  torpedoed  or  mined,  delays  in  paying  seamen  entitled  to 
compensation  and  lowering  of  the  income  tax  so  as  to  bring 
workmen  within  its  range  are  all  made  the  basis  of  complaint 
by  Scotch  workmen/ 


Government  Institutes  Immediate  Reforms 

In  spite  of  these  minor  differences  as  to  the  causes  of  indus- 
trial unrest  in  the  several  districts,  the  thing  which  most  strikes 
the  reader  of  the  reports  is  the  remarkable  unanimity  among  the 
commissions  as  to  the  extent  of  industrial  unrest  and  the  prin- 
cipal causes  for  its  existence.  The  unanimous  character  of  the 
reports  did  not  fail  to  leave  its  impression  upon  the  government 
which  had  instituted  the  inquiry  and  steps  were  at  once  taken 
by  the  appropriate  government  departments  to  carry  out  the 
recommendations  made  by  the  commissions  as  far  as  these 
recommendations  were  deemed  to  l^e  of  a  practicable  nature. 
Within  six  weeks  from  the  time  when  Mr.  G.  N.  Barnes,  Min- 
ister for  Labor,  had  presented  the  reports  of  the  commissions  on 
industrial  unrest  to  the  Prime  Minister,  he  was  able  to  report  that 
progress  had  been  made  in  the  direction  of  carrying  out  the 
recommendations  of  the  commissions  along  the  following  lines:  ^ 

1.  Food  Prices  and  Profiteering.  The  Food  Controller  had 
formulated  a  definite  scheme  for  the  reduction  of  prices,  the 
stoppage  of  profiteering  and  the  regulation  of  the  distribution  of 
essential  foods  and  was  on  the  point  of  putting  the  new  plan 
in  operation.  The  plan  included  the  appointment  by  local 
authorities  of  food  control  committees  in  every  county  or  metro- 
politan borough  to  cooperate  with  the  Food  Controller  and  assist 
in  the  administration  of  his  orders  and  regulations.  Maximum 
prices  were  to  be  fixed  for  certain  commodities  over  the  supply  of 
which  control  could  be  obtained   from  producer  down  to  the 


1  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  213,  219. 

2  Christian  Science  Monitor,  September  26,  1917. 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  265 

retailer.  In  some  cases  the  wholesale  prices  were  established  by 
the  Food  Controller  and  the  retail  prices  by  the  local  com- 
mittees. In  other  cases  the  retail  prices  were  fixed  by  the  Food 
Controller,  but  the  committees  mig-ht  grant  "  temporary  and 
provisional  licenses  for  the  charging  of  retail  prices  in  excess 
of  those  specified."  In  the  case  of  nearly  all  imported  com- 
modities, where  the  sole  control  was  in  the  hands  of  the  govern- 
ment, schemes  for  equitable  distribution  of  the  commodities  were 
provided/  The  general  purpose  of  the  orders  and  regulations 
was  "  to*  do  away  with  profiteering  altogether,  ...  to  limit 
profits  at  every  step  from  the  producer  to  the  consumer,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  regulate  the  supply."  ^ 

2.  Munitions  of  War  Acts.  The  Munitions  of  War  (Amend- 
ment) Bill  of  1917  had  been  passed  before  Mr.  Barnes  made  his 
report  of  progress  and  this  amendment  contained  several  pro- 
visions intended  to  lessen  the  dissatisfaction  felt  by  the  laborers 
with  the  operation  of  these  acts.  It  gave  the  Minister  of  Muni- 
tions the  power  to  abolish  the  leaving  certificates  and  it  was 
understood  that  this  would  be  done  within  a  few  weeks  when 
certain  safeguards  had  been  devised  which  would  prevent  the 
migration  of  skilled  laborers  to  less  skilled  but  more  remunera- 
tive occupations.  The  amendment  contained  provisions  intended 
to  prevent  arbitrary  changes  in  piece  rates,  and  a  special  com- 
mittee had  been  appointed  to  endeavor  to  correct  the  situation 
arising  from  the  discrepancy  between  skilled  time  and  unskilled 
piece  workers.  The  amendment  act  also  gave  power  to  the 
Minister  to  make  awards  binding  on  all  employers  in  the  trade 
— the  familiar  "  common  rule,"  as  it  is  known  in  Australasia. 
Mr.  Barnes  also  stated  that  a  committee  of  trade  unionists  was 
being  appointed  to  advise  Mr.  Winston  Churchill,  the  Minister 
of  Munitions,  on  industrial  questions.^  The  original  plan  of  the 
government  to  apply  the  dilution  policy  to  private  work  had  been 
abandoned,  thus  removing  another  cause  for  complaint. 

3.  The  Military  Service  Acts.     The   numerous   complaints 

^Monthly  Review  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  iMbor  Statistics,  November,  1917, 
pp.  91-104. 

2  Ibid..  December.  1917,  pp.  100-101. 

3  Christian  Science  Monitor.  September  26,  1917. 


266  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

occasioned  by  the  operation  of  the  Military  Service  Acts,  it  was 
thought,  would  be  lessened  somewhat  by  the  transference  of. 
recruiting  to  the  National  Service  Commission — a  civilian  de- 
partment. This  would  give  an  opportunity  for  a  full  considera- 
tion of  the  industrial  demand  for  men  as  well  as  the  military 
needs  and  would  help  to  reduce  the  friction  between  these  two 
interests  which  had  arisen. 

4.  Housing.  Mr.  Barnes  reported  that  a  far  reaching  scheme 
of  housing  after  the  war  was  being  undertaken  by  the  Local 
Government  Board  through  the  local  authorities.  It  was  hoped 
that  in  those  communities  where  the  reports  of  the  commissions 
had  shown  there  was  serious  need  for  additional  houses,  some 
immediate  action  would  be  forthcoming. 

5.  Agricultural  Wages.  The  act  fixing  a  minimum  wage 
for  agricultural  workers  had  received  the  royal  assent.  The 
minimum  wage  fixed  by  the  bill  (25s.  a  week)  was  that 
recommended  by  the  commissioners  reporting  on  industrial 
unrest. 

6.  Workmen's  Compensation.  The  Workmen's  Compensa- 
tion (war  addition)  Bill,  which  had  been  introduced  in  conse- 
quence of  representations  made  by  some  of  the  commissioners 
that  the  maximum  of  £1  payable  under  existing  acts  was  totally 
inadequate  under  existing  conditions,  had  become  a  law.  It  not 
only  raised  the  maximum  amount  payable  but  also  provided  for 
a  one  quarter  increase  in  the  sums  payable  to  those  whose  earn- 
ings were  below  £2  a  week, 

7.  Delays  in  Granting  Pensions.  These  had  been  at  least 
partially  overcome  by  recent  legislation. 

8.  Seamen's  Compensation.  The  losses  to  seamen  who  had 
served  on  vessels  torpedoed  or  mined  and  who  had  lost  their 
effects  were  covered  by  extending  the  scheme  of  compensation, 
which  applied  to  transports  and  government  chartered  vessels,  to 
officers  and  men  on  all  British  ships.  The  maximum  amount 
payable  had  also  been  increased. 

9.  Relations  between  Employers  and  Employed.  The  recom- 
mendations made  by  the  Reconstruction  Committee  on  Indus- 
trial Councils  and  the  setting  up  of  trade  constitutions  were 


INDUSTRIAL    UNREST  267 

being  dealt  with  as  rapidly  as  the  importance  of  the  subjects 
would  warrant^ 


Strike  in  the  Engineering  Industry 

How  far  these  attempts  to  remedy  the  industrial  situation  have 
satisfied  the  workers  it  would  be  difficult  to  say.  The  record  of 
industrial  disputes  for  the  latter  part  of  1917  and  the  early  half 
of  1918  do  not  indicate  that  industrial  unrest  in  Great  Britain 
has  been  quieted  to  any  considerable  degree.  Probably  the 
deeper  causes  can  not  be  reached  while  the  strain  of  war  time 
continues.  How  ready  the  workers  in  the  engineering  trades  are 
to  respond  to  real  or  assumed  grievances  is  shown  by  the  recent 
(July,  1918)  strike  caused  by  the  "  embargo."  This  strike  in  the 
engineering  industry  in  July,  1918,  ^as  due  fundamentally  to  a 
widespread  discontent  which  has  been  prevalent  for  several  years 
in  these  trades  (1)  over  the  extension  of  dilution,  (2)  to  the 
failure  of  the  government  to  make  the  obligations  to  restore 
trade  union  conditions  after  the  war  legally  binding  on  em- 
ployers, and  (3)  to  the  belief  that  industrial  conscription  in  one 
guise  or  another  was  actually  being  applied  to  the  engineering 
industry. 

This  feeling  was  intensified  and  brought  to  the  breaking  point 
by  the  discovery  that  the  Minister  of  Munitions  (Mr.  Winston 
Churchill)  had  issued  secret  orders  to  certain  firms  in  Coventry 
and  elsewhere,  "  forbidding  them,  under  drastic  penalties,  to 
engage  any  new  or  additional  skilled  men,  whilst  leaving  them 
free  to  increase  the  dilution  by  taking  on  semi-skilled  men.  These 
orders  were  apparently  to  be  kept  from  the  workmen's  notice. 
Unfortunately,  one  firm  nailed  them  up  on  its  gate,  and  as  one 
of  the  trade  union  officials  observed  immediately  *  the  fat  was 
in  the  fire.'  To  the  men  it  seemed  as  if  the  intention  was  to  make 
it  impracticable  for  any  man  to  change  his  employers,  under 
penalty  not  only  of  loss  of  income  but  also  of  a  prompt  calling 
up  for  the  army."  ^     The  government  acted  vigorously  in  the 

1  Christian  Science  Monitor,  September  26,  1917. 
»New  Statesman,  July  27,  1918,  p.  325. 


268  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

matter  and  gave  notice  that  it  intended  to  call  up  for  military 
service  all  men  on  strike.  Trade  union  opinion  throughout  the 
country  on  the  merits  of  the  strike  was  divided  and  after  a  few 
days  most  of  the  men  returned  to  work. 


CHAPTER  X 

Industrial  Reconstruction 

None  of  the  warring  countries  seems  to  have  given  more 
thought  to  after  the  war  problems  than  has  Great  Britain.  It 
is  a  remark  which  has  been  made  so  often  that  it  has  become 
commonplace  that  "  this  will  be  a  different  world  after  the  war," 
but  not  many  people  have  set  themselves  deliberately  the  task  of 
endeavoring  to  ascertain  just  how  the  war  is  changing  industrial 
relations  or  in  what  ways  these  changes  can  be  controlled  so  as 
to  insure  an  improvement  in  the  working  and  living  conditions  of 
the  great  mass  of  mankind — the  laboring  classes. 

In  all  countries  in  which  the  carrying  out  of  a  political  or 
military  program  requires  the  consent  and  cooperation  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  people,  it  is  obvious  that  that  program  must 
be  one  which  will  appeal  to  the  needs  and  desires  of  the  laboring 
classes.  The  government  of  Great  Britain  recognized  this  fact 
at  the  outset  and  gave  organized  labor  a  position  in  th^  war 
councils  of  the  nation  and  sought  the  support  of  the  leaders  of 
the  trade  unions  in  carrying  out  its  military  and  industrial  pro- 
gram. In  spite  of  wide  differences  of  opinion  which  have 
developed  between  the  coalition  government  and  some  of  the 
leading  trade  unionists,  and  in  spite  of  much  industrial  discon- 
tent, it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  the  government  has  never  failed 
for  long  to  receive  the  support  of  most  of  the  labor  leaders 
and  of  the  great  majority  of  their  followers. 

Government  Recognition  of  Labor  Demands 

The  government  has,  on  its  part,  gone  far  to  recognize  the 
legitimacy  of  many  of  the  labor  demands  and  of  the  feeling 
which  has  grown  up,  that  in  the  new  industrial  order  which  is 
to  arise  at  the  close  of  the  war,  labor  is  to  play  a  much  larger 

269 


270  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

part  in  the  management  of  industry  than  most  industrial  man- 
agers or  governmental  leaders  have  hitherto  been  willing  to  con- 
cede to  it.  A  most  striking  example  of  this  new  point  of  view  in 
government  circles  is  to  be  found  in  an  informal  reply  made 
by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to  a  deputation  sent  by  the  Labor  party 
on  Tuesday,  March  6,  1917,  to  present  to  the  Prime  Min- 
ister a  series  of  resolutions  which  had  been  adopted  at  a 
party  conference  held  in  Manchester  the  preceding  January  to 
discuss  "after  the  war"  problems.  The  significance  of  this 
statement  lies,  of  course,  in  the  fact  that  while  it  was  made  in 
an  informal  manner  and  as  an  expression  of  a  personal  opinion, 
it  was  made  by  a  man  occupying  the  highest  official  position  in 
the  land  and  who  had  been  accepted  by  Parliament  as  its  leader. 
After  the  deputation  had  presented  the  resolutions  and  several 
members  had  offered  explanations  as  to  their  meaning  and  pur- 
poses, the  Prime  Minister  spoke,  in  part,  as  follows : 

There  is  no  doubt  at  all  that  the  present  war  .  .  .  presents  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  reconstruction  of  the  industrial  and  economic  conditions  of 
this  country  such  as  has  never  been  presented  in  the  life  of,  probably,  the 
world.  The  whole  state  of  society  is  more  or  less  molten  and  you  can  stamp 
upon  that  molten  mass  almost  ajiything  so  long  as  you  do  so  with  firmness 
and  determination.  ...  I  firmly  believe  that  what  is  known  as  the  after 
the  war  settlement  is  the  settlement  that  will  direct  the  destinies  of  all 
classes  for  some  generations  to  come.  The  country  will  be  prepared  for 
bigger  things  immediately  after  the  war  than  it  will  be  when  it  begins  to 
resume  the  normal  sort  of  clash  of  selfish  interests  which  always  comes  with 
the  ordinary  work-a-day  business  affairs  and  concerns  of  the  world.  I 
believe  the  country  will  be  in  a  more  enthusiastic  mood,  in  a  more  exalted 
mood,  for  the  time  being — in  a  greater  mood  for  doing  big  things ;  and  unless 
the  opportunity'  is  seized  immediately  after  the  war,  I  believe  it  will  pass 
away,  I  will  not  say  forever,  but  it  will  pass  away  far  beyond  either  your 
ken  or  mine,  and  perhaps  beyond  our  children's.  Therefore,  you  are  doing 
well  in  giving  your  time  and  thought  to  considering,  and  considering  deeply, 
and  considering  on  a  bold  scale,  on  a  daring  scale,  what  you  are  going  to 
do  after  the  war. 

I  am  not  afraid  of  the  audacity  of  these  proposals.  I  believe  the  set- 
tlement after  the  war  will  succeed  in  proportion  to  its  audacity.  The  readier 
we  are  to  cut  away  from  the  past,  the  better  are  we  likely  to  succeed.  .  .  . 
I  hope  that  every  class  will  not  be  hankering  back  to  prewar  conditions.  I 
just  drop  that  as  a  hint,  and  I  hope  the  working  class  will  not  be  the  class 
that  will  set  such  an  example,  because  if  every  class  insists  on  getting  back 
to  prewar  conditions,  then  God  help  this  country !     I  say  so  in  all  solemnity. 


INDUSTRIAL  RECONSTRUCTION  271 

Therefore,  what  I  should  be  looking  forward  to,  I  am  certain,  if  I  could 
have  presumed  to  have  been  the  adviser  of  the  working  classes  would  be 
this :  I  should  say  to  them,  "  Audacity  is  the  thing  for  you."  Think  out  new 
ways ;  think  out  new  methods ;  think  out  even  nev/  ways  of  deahng  with  old 
problems.  Don't  always  be  thinking  of  getting  back  to  where  you  were  be- 
fore the  war;  get  a  really  new  world.^ 

To  what  extent  the  Labor  party  accepted  the  advice  given  on 
such  high  governmental  authority  is  evident  to  all  who  have 
read  the  social  reconstruction  program  of  the  British  Labor 
party.^  The  executive  committee  of  the  party  in  its  annual 
report  to  the  Nottingham  Conference  itself  remarks  somewhat 
dryly  apropos  this  interview : 

On  that  occasion  the  Prime  Minister,  after  having  had  an  opportunity  of 
considering  the  series  of  resolutions  referred  to,  advised  the  party  to  "  be 
audacious " !  Judging  from  the  comments  that  have  followed  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Report  on  Reconstruction,  a  general  impression  may  be  gathered 
that  there  has  been  little  hesitation  in  adopting  the  Prime  Minister's  advice.' 

Reconstruction  Program  of  British  Association 

The  first  constructive  suggestions  of  reforms  needed  in  the 
field  of  labor  did  not,  however,  originate  with  organized  labor — 
at  least  not  from  the  laborers  alone.  During  the  first  year  of 
the  war  the  Economics  Section  of  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  set  itself  the  task  of  studying,  some- 
what intensively,  the  economic  and  financial  problems  of  the  war 
and  the  way  in  which  the  changes  in  industrial  relations  caused 
by  the  war  could  be  turned  to  good  account  in  the  recasting  of 
industry  in  the  after  the  war  period. 

The  first  year's  report  *  of  the  committees  appointed  did  not 
present  the  subject  of  industrial  relations  in  any  notably  fresh 
way.  In  the  published  speeches  on  the  promotion  of  industrial 
harmony  ^  there  are  some  interesting  facts  growing  out  of  the 
industrial  experience  of  the  various  speakers,  representing  both 

1  Report  of  the  Sixteenth  Annual  Conference  of  the  Labor  Party,  p.  169. 

2  Labor  and  the  New  Social  Order. 

3  Report  of  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Conference  of  the  Labor  Party. 
Nottingham  and  London,  1918,  p.  37. 

*  Kirkaldy  (Editor):  Credit,  Industry  and  the  War  (London,  1916). 
« Ibid.,  pp.  17-67. 


272  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

employers  and  employed,  and  in  the  final  essay^  by  the  venerable 
Archdeacon  of  Ely  (William  Cunningham)  there  are  some  hints 
as  to  the  direction  which  state  enterprise  may  take  in  the  future, 
but  there  is  nothing  in  this  volume  which  could  be  regarded  as  a 
program  for  the  relations  between  employers  and  workers. 

In  the  report  of  the  second  year,"  however,  we  find  in  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Industrial  Unrest,  sketched  in  rough 
outline,  a  program  for  the  organization  of  industry  which  is  of 
interest,  not  only  for  the  suggestions  themselves  but  because  it 
contains  the  germs  of  the  later  reports  of  the  government's 
Reconstruction  Committee  on  joint  standing  industrial  councils 
and  perhaps  of  some  portion  of  the  program  of  the  British  Labor 
party. 

The  membership  of  this  British  Association  committee  was 
composed  of  not  only  professional  economists  and  social  re- 
formers, like  Professors  Kirkaldy,  Chapman,  Scott  and  Conner, 
Archdeacon  Cunningham,  Hon.  Charles  Booth  and  Mr.  Sidney 
Ball,  but  of  prominent  employers  like  Sir  Hugh  Bell,  Sir  C.  W. 
Macara  and  Mr.  Pickup  Holden  and  of  trade  union  leaders  like 
Hon.  C.  W.  Bowerman  and  Mr.  Harry  Gosling.  Professor 
Chapman  is  the  only  member  of  this  committee  who  was  also  a 
member  of  the  subcommittee  of  the  Reconstruction  Committee 
which  made  the  report  on  joint  standing  industrial  councils. 
This  may  or  may  not  be  of  significance,  but  perhaps  too  much 
importance  should  not  be  attached  to  the  resemblance  between 
the  proposals  of  the  British  Association  Committee  and  those 
contained  in  the  Whitley  report.  Simliar  plans  for  the  recon- 
struction of  industry  seem  to  have  been  in  the  minds  of  many 
persons.  They  had  already  found  a  partial  expression  in  pro- 
ducers' cooperative  societies  and  in  the  trade  agreements  made 
by  the  best  organized  trade  unions  and  the  employers'  associa- 
tions in  several  industries  which  gave  definite  recognition  to  the 
rights  of  trade  unions  to  participate  in  industrial  management, 
in  so  far  as  the  wages  and  working  conditions  were  affected  by 
this  management. 

We  have  already  noted  ^  the  causes  of  industrial  unrest  as  they 

1  Chapter  V,  Economic  Problems  After  the  War. 

2  Kirkaldy  (Editor)  :  Labour,  Finance  and  the  War,  chap,  ii'.- 
8  Chapter  IX. 


INDUSTRIAL  RECONSTRUCTION  273 

are  set  forth  in  this  report  of  the  committee  of  the  British  Asso- 
ciation, The  recommendations  which  the  committee  makes  for 
the  removal,  or  at  least  the  alleviation,  of  these  causes  are  as 
follows:  (1)  An  improvement  in  the  general  attitude  and  outlook 
of  employers  and  workmen,  which  could  be  accomplished,  the 
committee  thinks,  by  frankness  on  both  sides  and  by  a  willing- 
ness on  the  part  of  both  employers  and  workers  to  discuss  indus- 
trial matters  together,  by  a  better  knowledge  on  both  sides  of 
"  the  fundamental  facts  and  principles  of  economics,"  and  by 
having  employers  consider  the  collective  cost  of  labor,  and  not 
the  total  amount  of  wages  earned  by  the  workman  each  week; 
(2)  better  machinery  for  dealing  with  disputes,  calling  for  a 
recognition  by.  the  state  of  approved  associations  of  employers 
and  trade  unions  and  of  the  enforcement  of  trade  agreements, 
for  "  permanent  joint  boards  or  committees  "  in  each  industry, 
"  to  consider  all  matters  of  common  interest  to  both  employers 
and  employed,"  and  of  a  national  joint  board,  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  employers  and  workers,  similar  to  the  industrial 
council  created  by  the  government  in  1911,  but  whose  services 
had  never  been  utilized;  (3)  a  better  organization  of  industry 
along  lines  which  will  presently  be  shown;  and  (4)  certain  post- 
war arrangements  in  regard  to  demobilization,  the  carrying  out 
of  the  government's  agreements  with  the  trade  unions  and  an 
effort  to  forecast  commercial  and  financial  development  with  a 
view  to  the  determination  of  a  labor  program.^ 

The  suggestions  in  regard  to  industrial  boards  or  committees 
and  of  a  national  joint  board  to  settle  industrial  disputes  bear  a 
close  resemblance  to  those  later  made  by  the  Reconstruction 
Committee,  but  the  most  interesting  suggestions  by  the  British 
Association  committee  are  found  in  the  section  (3)  relating  to 
the  organization  of  industry.  The  committee  begins  its  recom- 
mendations under  this  heading  with  the  advice :  "  That  the  neces- 
sity for  cooperation  between  employers  and  employed  be  frankly 
recognized  by  both  parties."  Calling  attention  to  the  interde- 
pendence in  industry  of  capital  and  labor,  the  committee  urges 
employers  to  refrain  from  speeding  up  production  to  the  point 

^  Kirkaldy,  op.  cit.,  pp.  40-52. 


274  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

where  the  workers  suffer  from  fatigue,  and  workers  are  urged 
not  to  restrict  output  in  a  way  which  precludes  the  attainment 
of  maximum  production  in  the  long  run.  Both  sides  are  urged 
to  cooperate  in  determining  by  observation  and  experiment  what 
is  the  work  limit  which  yields  the  highest  output  with  the  least 
fatigue.  In  many  industries  it  should  be  possible  to  obtain  "  a 
standard  working  day  and  a  standard  speed  for  machinery  which 
would  be  a  rough  indication  of  the  point  at  which  the  industry 
would  attain  its  maximum  long  period  efficiency."  In  industries 
in  which  work  was  not  standardized  and  in  which  "  gluts  of 
work  alternate  with  periods  of  slackness,"  the  problem  would 
be  more  difficult  and  an  effort  should  be  made  to  decasualize 
industry  as  far  as  possible.  To  secure  the  highest  results  in 
production  when  two  or  more  persons  cooperate  in  producing, 
there  must  be  an  equitable  method  of  sharing  the  joint  product, 
in  order  that  the  different  parties  concerned  shall  be  satisfied  with 
their  share  of  the  product.  The  committee  makes  no  recom- 
mendation on  the  subjects  of  a  minimum  wage  or  a  fixed  return 
on  capital  because  "  the  conditions  in  different  trades  and  dis- 
tricts are  so  varied  that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  make  hard 
and  fast  rules  on  either  point."  It  leaves  these  matters  to  be 
settled  by  the  "  local  or  central  joint  boards,"  which  it  is  about 
to  suggest.^ 

The  committee's  suggestions  as  to  the  kind  of  cooperation  be- 
tween employers  and  employed  in  the  processes  of  production 
are  such  a  departure  from  the  present  methods  of  shop  manage- 
ment and  so  closely  resemble  the  later  suggestions  made  by  the 
committee  on  reconstruction  that  it  seems  best  to  quote  them  at 
length. 

The  cooperation  between  work  people  and  managers  should  go  further  than 
the  mere  distribution  of  the  products  of  industry.  The  carrying  out  of  the 
processes  of  production,  as  we  have  seen,  involves  a  series  of  cooperative 
actions  which  can  be  accomplished  best  if  the  parties  concerned  work  to- 
gether with  full  confidence  in  each  other.  This  spirit  can  be  attained  only 
if  all  those  engaged  in  industry  feel  that  they  have  some  share  in  determin- 
ing the  conditions  under  which  the  work  is  carried  on.  At  the  present  time 
these  arrangements  are  made  by  the  managers,  and,  if  the  work  people  are 

*  Kirkaldy,  op.  cii.,  pp.  44-46. 


INDUSTRIAL   RECONSTRUCTION  2Y5 

not  satisfied  with  them,  they  may  attempt  to  force  concessions  by  with- 
holding their  labor. 

How  far  is  it  possible  for  the  work  people  to  take  part  in  the  organiza- 
tion? With  such  things  as  the  marketing  of  products  labor  is  only  indirectly 
concerned,  but  with  others  {e.g.  workshop  arrangements  and  the  speed  of 
machinery)  it  is  directly  concerned.  Those  functions  of  organization  which 
are  concerned  with,  bringing  together  the  different  factors  of  production, 
determining  the  proportions  of  these  factors  in  any  enterprise,  and  bring- 
ing the  product  to  the  consumers,  must  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  managers. 
It  is  important  that  the  most  capable  persons  shall  have  the  management, 
and  the  best  way  of  securing  this  is  to  leave  the  system  of  free  enterprise 
as  it  exists  today. 

Variations  in  the  demand  for  an  article,  or  in  the  price  of  raw  materials, 
may  involve  changes  in  the  kind  of  machinery,  the  proportion  of  machinery 
used  in  relation  to  other  factors,  and  so  on.  These  are  questions  which 
are  dependent  on  the  judgment  of  those  who  are  responsible  for  the  higher 
management,  and  must,  therefore,  remain  und'-ir  their  control. 

There  are  other  branches  of  organization  concerned  with  the  detailed 
working  of  factories  which  might  be  carried  out  by  cooperation  between  the 
workers  and  the  management.  They  are  functions  which,  in  a  large  factory, 
are  sometimes  delegated  to  works  managers  and  foremen,  and  concern  the 
precise  arrangement  as  to  hours  of  work,  rest  periods,  working  shifts,  speed 
of  machinery,  the  subdivision  and  grading  of  labor,  discipline,  etc.  These 
matters  might  be  determined  with  the  assistance  of  a  committee  of  workers 
who  know  the  conditions  existing  in  the  factory.  Such  arrangements  could 
not  be  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  work  people  without  any  conditions 
as  to  output.  A  certain  minimum  output  would  have  to  be  fixed  for  each 
workshop  so  controlled,  and  it  would  be  to  the  interests  of  the  industry  and 
all  those  engaged  in  it  to  increase  this  output  as  much  as  possible.  Such  a 
committee  would  be  able  to  guard  against  excessive  speeding  up,  and  would 
remove  one  of  the  main  causes  to  which  restriction  of  output  is  attributed. 
Industry  would  be  likely  to  gain,  not  only  from  the  removal  of  these  re- 
strictions, but  also  from  the  more  willing  cooperation  of  the  workers  and  the 
possible  saving  in  the  cost  of  supervision.  It  is  reasonable  to  expect  that 
fewer  foremen  and  supervisors  would  be  required.^ 

The  committee  discusses  at  considerable  length  the  questions 
which  would  have  to  be  considered  and  the  possible  modifications 
which  would  have  to  be  made  in  industrial  arrangements  when 
labor  saving  machinery  is  introduced  or  new  processes  are 
adopted  which  diminish  the  amount  of  labor  so  that  both  the 
interests  of  the  workers  and  those  of  employers  will  be  protected. 
The  suggestions  made  by  the  committee  proceed  on  the  assump- 
tion that  both  employers  and  employed  are  well  organized  and 

*  Kirkaldy,  op.  cit.,  pp.  46-47. 


276  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

are  prepared  to  carry  on  collective  bargaining.  Both  the  em- 
ployers and  the  workers  are  recommended  to  organize  along  the 
following  lines : 

1.  Associations  of  one  trade  in  a  given  district. 

2,  National  associations  of  each  trade, 

3.  Local  federations  of  trades, 

4,  National  federations  of  the  trades. 

The  national  federations  of  workers  and  of  employers  should 
elect  an  industrial  council,  which  should  act  as  a  court  of  appeal 
in  industrial  disputes  which  could  not  be  settled  otherwise. 
Approval  by  the  state  should  be  given  to  these  organizations 
when  they  work  in  accordance  with  its  regulations,  and  the  state 
would  be  the  protector  of  the  consumers  and  of  the  national 
interest.  It  is  said  that  "  under  this  system,  work  people  would 
enjoy  all  the  advantages  aimed  at  by  the  extreme  party  such  as 
the  Syndicalist,  but  the  dangers  and  risk  inseparable  from  a 
revolutionary  policy  would  be  avoided,"  ^ 

Trade  Union  Agreement 

It  was  stated  above  that  the  views  concerning  the  reorgani- 
zation of  industry  did  not  originate  with  members  of  the  work- 
ing classes  or,  at  least,  not  with  them  alone.  Who,  within  the 
membership  of  the  British  Association  committee  on  the  subject 
of  industrial  unrest.  Was  the  first  to  suggest  the  essential  features 
of  the  program  we  have  just  discussed,  we  are  not  informed. 
Professor  Kirkaldy  of  the  University  of  Birmingham  was  the 
Chairman  of  the  committee  and  seems  to  have  been  mainly 
responsible  for  the  form  in  which  the  proposals  are  set  forth, 
though  he  tells  us  that  within  the  committee  the  points  on  which 
the  members  were  in  agreement  were  "  infinitely  more  important 
than  those  on  which  there  was  some  diiference  of  opinion."  ^ 
We  must  now  hasten  to  add  that  if  the  "  intellectuals  "  first  gave 
coherent  expression  to  the  new  views  concerning  industrial  or- 
ganization, which  must  doubtless  have  been  taking  shape  in  the 
minds  of  many  men  even  in  the  years  antedating  the  war,  another 

1  Kirkaldy,  op.  cit.,  pp.  47-50. 

2  Ibid.,  preface,  p.  iv. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  277 

expression  of  the  same  views  comes  from  trade  union  circles  so 
soon  following  the  completion  of  the  British  Association  Com- 
mittee's report  that  it  shows  that  its  author  had  either  for  some 
time  held  the  same  views  as  those  expressed  by  the  committee  or 
was  so  well  prepared  mentally  to  accept  them  when  they  were 
first  presented  that  he  quickly  made  them  his  own. 

Mr.  Harry  Gosling,  who  was  President  of  the  British  Trades 
Union  Congress  in  IDIG,  and  the  following  year  was  President 
of  the  Transport  Workers'  Federation,  was  one  of  the  members  of 
this  British  Association  Com.mittee  on  Industrial  Unrest,  where 
he  either  imbibed  the  new  ideas  concerning  labor  participa- 
tion in  industrial  management,  or,  more  likely,  helped  to  develop 
them.  At  any  rate  in  his  inaugural  address  at  the  Trades  Union 
Congress,  held  at  Birmingham  in  September,  1916,  we  find  him, 
after  stating  the  labor  problems  which  are  likely  to  come  up  for 
solution  at  the  close  of  the  war,  giving  expression  to  the  longings 
of  the  working  man  in  the  following  words : 

Would  it  not  be  possible  for  the  employers  in  this  country,  on  the  con- 
clusion of  peace,  when  we  have  rid  ourselves  of  the  restrictive  legislation 
to  which  we  have  submitted  for  war  purposes,  to  agree  to  put  their  business 
on  a  new  footing  by  admitting  the  workmen  to  some  participation,  not  in 
profits,  but  in  control? 

We  workmen  do  not  ask  that  we  should  be  admitted  to  any  share  in  what 
is  essentially  the  employer's  own  business,  that  is,  in  those  matters  which 
do  not  concern  us  directly  in  the  industry  or  employment  in  which  we  may 
be  engaged.  We  do  not  seek  to  sit  on  the  board  of  directors,  or  to  interfere 
with  the  buying  of  materials,  or  with  the  selling  of  the  product.  But  in  the 
daily  management  of  the  employment  in  which  we  spend  our  working  lives, 
in  the  atmosphere  and  under  the  conditions  in  which  we  have  to  work,  in 
the  hours  of  beginning  and  ending  work,  in  the  conditions  of  remuneration, 
and  even  in  the  manners  and  practices  of  the  foreman  with  whom  we  have 
to  be  in  contact,  in  all  these  matters  we  feel  that  we,  as  workmen,  have  a 
right  to  a  voice — even  to  an  equal  voice — with  the  management  itself.  Be- 
lieve me,  we  shall  never  get  any  lasting  industrial  peace  except  on  the  lines 
of  democracy.^ 

That  such  a  plan  for  the  reorganization  of  industry  after  the 
war  had  not  yet  formed  the  subject  of  deliberation  by  national 
gatherings  of  the  laboring  classes  seems  evident  from  the  fact 

1  Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Birmingham  Trades  Union  Congress,  1916, 
p.  61.  The  same  views  are  expressed  in  the  author's  pamphlet,  "  Peace:  How 
to  Get  and  Keep  It,"  p.  10. 


278  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

that  we  find  no  mention  of  any  such  a  plan  in  the  after  the  war 
resolutions  adopted  at  the  Manchester  conference  of  the  Labor 
party  in  January,  1917,  which  resolutions  were  subsequently 
presented  to  the  Prime  Minister,  as  already  noted.  The  only 
reference  to  the  control  of  industry  in  these  resolutions  has 
reference  to  industries  which  have  been  or  may  be  nationalized. 
The  resolution  dealing  with  this  matter  states  that  "  no  schemes 
for  the  nationalization  of  industry  can  be  accepted  as  satisfac- 
tory which  do  not  provide  for  their  effective  control  by  the 
workers  in  those  industries."  ^ 

Other  discussions  of  after  the  war  problems  which  took  place 
about  this  time  show  that  the  idea  of  a  fundamental  change  in 
the  relations  between  employers  and  employed  had  not  yet  taken 
possession  of  the  minds  of  either  group  in  such  a  way  as  to  lead 
to  a  definite  formulation  of  a  program  for  the  democratic  control 
of  industry.  In  January,  1917,  a  conference  was  held  in  London 
between  representatives  of  capital  and  labor  which  was  presided 
over  by  the  Right  Hon.  Frederick  Huth  Jackson,  President  of 
the  Bankers'  Institute,  to  consider  after  the  war  problems,  at 
which  it  was  agreed  that  Parliament  should  be  urged  to  estab- 
lish a  board  whose  functions  it  should  be  "  to  regulate  and  super- 
vise (a)  the  reinstatement  in  civil  employment  of  the  present 
forces;  (b)  the  settlement  in  normal  employment  of  civilian 
workers  now  in  government  or  controlled  establishments;  (c) 
any  general  redistribution  of  labor  arising  out  of  the  war.^  It 
is  at  once  obvious  that  these  resolutions,  dealing  only  with  the 
subjects  of  demobilization  and  the  redistribution  of  labor,  are 

1  Report  of  the  Sixteenth  Annual  Conference  of  the  Labor  Party,  1918, 
p.  123.  The  executive  committee  of  the  Labor  party  in  presenting  the  re- 
port of  its  subcommittee  entitled  Labour  and  the  New  Social  Order,  which 
has  been  so  widely  circulated  and  has  created  such  a  sensation  because  of 
its  radical  and  far  seeing  plan  of  reconstruction,  declared  that  this  documnt 
had  been  "  based  on  resolutions  adopted  by  previous  conferences,  particularly 
the  series  passed  by  the  Manchester  Conference  in  1917."  ("  Report  of  the 
Seventeenth  Annual  Conference  of  the  Labor  Party."  Nottingham  and  Lon- 
don, 1918,  p.  37.)  While  this  is  doubtless  true  of  many  of  the  proposals 
found  in  this  justly  famous  document,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  demand 
for  democratic  control  of  industry  which  finds  expression  therein  does  not 
call  for  such  a  cooperative  control  of  industry  as  is  proposed  by  the  Re- 
construction Committee  of  the  War  Cabinet. 

2  Monthly  Review  of  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  March, 
1917,  p.  479. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  279 

much  narrower  in  scope  than  the  recommendations  of  the  British 
Association  committee  and  could  hardly  have  influenced  the 
government  to  set  forth  a  program  for  the  reorganization  of 
industry.  They  may  have  exerted  some  influence  in  leading  the 
government  to  appoint  a  committee  to  consider  the  subject  of 
industrial  reconstruction,  though  there  is  no  evidence  to  support 
this  view. 

Report  of  the  Reconstruction  Committee 

Prior  to  the  formation  of  the  present  government,  the  subject 
of  reconstruction  had  been  dealt  with  by  Ministers  of  the  Crown 
who  were  members  of  the  Cabinet — the  so-called  Cabinet  Com- 
mittee. After  the  new  government  took  office  this  arrangement 
continued  for  a  time  and  various  subjects  were  dealt  with  and 
reports  were  made  thereon  by  subcommittees  appointed  for  this 
purpose.^  Among  these  subcommittees  was  one  called  the  Sub- 
committee on  Relations  between  Employers  and  Employed,  of 
which  the  Right  Hon,  J.  H.  Whitley,  M.P.,  was  the  Chairman. 

This  subcommittee  was  asked : 

1.  To  make  and  consider  suggestions  for  securing  a  permanent  improve- 
ment in  the  relations  between  employers  and  workmen. 

2.  To  recommend  means  for  securing  that  industrial  conditions  affecting 
the  relations  between  employers  and  workmen  shall  be  systematically  re- 
viewed by  those  concerned,  with  a  view  to  improving  conditions  in  the 
future.2 

This  committee  issued  an  interim  report  on  the  subject  of  joint 
standing  industrial  councils  on  March  8,  1917. 

In  this  first  report  the  committee  dealt  only  with  the  problem 
of  how  to  secure  "  permanently  improved  relations  between 
employers  and  employed  in  the  main  industries  of  the  country, 
in  which  there  exist  representative  organizations  on  both  sides." 
It  was  felt  that  the  circumstances  of  the  times,  when  industry 
had  been  forced  to  a  temporary  reorganization  to  meet  war  needs, 
which  would  in  turn  necessitate  another  readjustment  when  the 

1  The  War  Cabinet     Report  for  the  Year    1917,  p.  199. 

2  Interim  Report  of  Subcommittee,  etc.  Reprinted  in  Bulletin  237,  U.  S. 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  p.  229.     (Parliamentary  Paper.    Cd.  8606.) 


280  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND    LEGISLATION 

war  was  over,  offered  a  great  opportunity  to  secure  that  the 
cooperation  between  employers  and  employed  which  the  war  had 
brought  about  should  not  only  continue  but  should  be  strength- 
ened. The  committee  did  not  hesitate  to  express  the  opinion 
that  "  any  proposals  put  forward  should  offer  to  work  people  the 
means  of  attaining  improved  conditions  of  employment  and  a 
higher  standard  of  comfort  generally,,  and  involve  the  enlistment 
of  their  active  and  continuous  cooperation  in  the  promotion  of 
industry."  In  order  to  provide  the  means  of  securing  this  co- 
operation between  employers  and  employed  the  committee 
recommended  that  the  government  "  should  propose  without 
delay  to  the  various  associations  of  employers  and  employed  the 
formation  of  joint  standing  industrial  councils  in  the  several 
industries  where  they  do  not  already  exist,  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  employers  and  employed,  regard  being  paid  to  the 
various  sections  of  the  industry  and  the  various  classes  of  labor 
engaged." 

Among  the  matters  to  which  these  councils  should  give  their 
early  attention  are  questions  of  demobilization  and  how  the 
government  guarantee  and  the  undertakings  of  employers  to 
restore  the  trade  union  rules  and  customs  suspended  during  the 
war  are  to  be  met.  The  committee  recognized  that  in  some 
cases  employes  as  well  as  employers  would  not  desire  to  have 
the  old  rules  and  customs  restored,  but  it  insisted  that  any  new 
arrangements  to  be  made  must  not  only  have  the  acquiescence 
of  the  unions  but  must  be  the  joint  work  of  employers  and 
employed. 

To  complete  the  work  of  organization  of  any  industry,  it  is 
not  sufficient  to  have  only  this  national  industrial  council. 

What  is  needed  is  a  triple  organization — in  the  workshops, 
the  districts,  and  nationally.  All  three  organizations  should  pro- 
ceed on  a  common  principle  and  the  committee  offered  the  follow- 
ing proposals  to  be  laid  before  the  national  industrial  councils : 

(a)  That  district  councils,  representative  of  the  trade  unions  and  of  the 
Employers*  Association  in  the  industry,  should  be  created  or  de- 
veloped out  of  the  existing  machinery  for  negotiation  in  the  various 
trades. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  281 

(b)  That  works  committees,  representative  of  the  management  and  of  the 
workers  employed,  should  be  instituted  in  particular  works  to  act 
in  close  cooperation  with  the  district  and  national  machinery. 

The  design  for  these  committees  should  be  a  matter  for  agree- 
ment between  the  trade  unions  and  the  employers'  associations  in 
each  industry,  for  only  in  this  way  could  their  support  for  such  a 
scheme  be  secured.  "  The  object  is  to  secure  cooperation  by 
granting  to  work  people  a  greater  share  in  the  consideration  of 
matters  affecting  their  industry  and  this  can  only  be  achieved 
by  keeping  employers  and  work  people  in  constant  touch." 

While  admitting  that  the  respective  functions  of  works  com- 
mittees, district  councils  and  the  national  councils  would  have  to 
be  determined  in  accordance  with  conditions  which  had  grown 
up  in  each  industry,  the  committee  made  mention  of  the  follow- 
ing questions  which,  it  thought,  might  well  be  dealt  with  by  the 
national  council  or  be  allocated  by  it  to  the  district  councils  or 
works  committees: 

1.  The  better  utilization  of  the  practical  knowledge  and  experience  of  the 
work  people. 

2.  Means  for  securing  to  the  work  people  a  greater  share  in  and  respon- 
sibility for  the  determination  and  observance  of  the  conditions  under  which 
their  work  is  carried  on. 

3.  The  settlement  of  the  general  principles  governing  the  conditions  of 
employment,  including  the  methods  of  fixing,  paying  and  readjusting  wages, 
having  regard  to  the  need  for  securing  to  the  work  people  a  share  in  the  in- 
creased prosperity  of  the  industry. 

4.  The  establishment  of  regular  methods  of  negotiation  for  issues  aris- 
ing between  employers  and  work  people,  with  a  view  both  to  the  prevention 
of  differences  and  to  their  better  adjustment  when  they  appear. 

5.  Means  of  insuring  to  the  work  people  the  greatest  possible  security  of 
earnings  and  employment,  without  undue  restriction  upon  change  of  occu- 
pation or  employer. 

6.  Methods  of  fixing  and  adjusting  earnings,  piece  work  prices,  etc.,  and 
of  dealing  with  the  many  difficulties  which  arise  with  regard  to  the  method 
and  amount  of  payment  apart  from  the  fixing  of  general  standard  rates, 
which  are  already  covered  by  paragraph  3. 

7.  Technical  education  and  training. 

8.  Industrial  research  and  the  full  utilization  of  its  results. 

9.  The  provision  of  facilities  for  the  full  consideration  and  utilization  of 
inventions  and  improvements  designed  by  work  people,  and  for  the  adequate 
safeguarding  of  the  rights  of  the  designers  of  such  improvements. 


282  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

10.  Improvements  of  processes,  machinery  and  organization  and  appro- 
priate questions  relating  to  management  and  the  examination  of  industrial 
experiments,  with  special  reference  to  cooperation  in  carrying  new  ideas  into 
effect  and  full  consideration  of  the  work  people's  point  of  view  in  relation 
to  them. 

11.  Proposed  legislation  affecting  the  industry. 

A  careful  comparison  between  this  plan  for  industrial  councils 
and  the  plan  for  industrial  organization  presented  in  1916  by  the 
committee  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science  will  show  that  they  are,  in  essentials,  the  same  plan.  The 
Whitley  report  makes  the  plan  somewhat  more  definite  than  that 
set  forth  by  the  British  Association  committee,  but  the  general 
resemblance  between  the  two  programs  can  not  help  but  cause 
speculation  as  to  whether  or  not  they  did  not  have  a  common 
origin  in  the  brain  of  some  one  individual. 

The  Whitley  report  urges  the  government  to  put  the  proposals 
made  by  the  committee  before  the  employers'  and  work  people's 
associations  in  the  well  organized  trades  and  to  request  them  to 
adopt  the  proposals  with  the  aid  of  such  assistance  as  the  govern- 
ment can  give  while  it  acts  only  in  an  advisory  capacity.  To 
those  persons  who  feared  that  the  combination  of  employers  and 
employes  through  the  medium  of  these  industrial  councils  might 
lead  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  interests  of  the  community,  the  com- 
mittee expressed  the  opinion  that  the  councils  would  have  regard 
for  the  national  interest.  If  they  did  not,  the  state,  which  "  never 
parts  with  its  inherent  overriding  power,"  could  intervene.  The 
committee  repeated  its  statement  that  the  plan  presented  was 
only  intended  for  "  industries  in  which  there  are  responsible 
associations  of  employers  and  work  people  which  can  claim  to 
be  fairly  representative."  A  later  report  was  promised  for 
trades  not  so  well  organized,  but  the  committee  gave  it  as  its 
considered  opinion  "  that  an  essential  condition  of  securing  a 
permanent  improvement  in  the  relations  between  employers  and 
employed  is  that  there  should  be  adequate  organization  on  the 
part  of  both  employers  and  work  people." 


industrial  reconstruction  283 

Discussion  of  the  Whitley  Report 

The  reception  which  the  Whitley  report  has  received  from 
employers  as  well  as  from  employes  is  remarkable  in  view  of 
the  somewhat  radical  character  of  the  recommendations  which, 
if  adopted,  would  change  fundamentally  the  prevailing  character 
of  the  wage  system.  The  report  of  the  committee  was  made  in 
March,  1917,  but  was  not  made  public  for  several  months. 
Meanwhile,  the  eight  commissions  appointed  to  consider  the 
causes  of  and  remedies  for  industrial  unrest  had  been  appointed 
and  had  begun  their  work.  They  were  asked  to  inquire  of  the 
parties  which  appeared  before  them  their  opinion  concerning  the 
value  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Whitley  committee  and  the 
desirability  of  putting  the  plan  therein  proposed  into  operation. 
The  Right  Hon.  George  N.  Barnes,  who  presented  the  summary 
of  the  reports  of  the  commissions,  said  that  the  reports  of  the 
commissions  bore  "  a  striking  testimony  to  the  value  of  the 
proposals  made  in  the  report  of  the  subcommittee  of  the  Recon- 
struction Committee,  dealing  with  the  relations  of  employers  and 
employed,"  and  that,  "  broadly  speaking,  the  principles  laid  down 
appear  to  have  met  with  general  approval."  ^ 

Taking  up  the  reports  of  the  commissions  in  each  of  the 
various  divisions,  we  find  the  following  responses  to  the  pro- 
posals of  the  Reconstruction  Committee: 

Division  1 — Northeast  Area.  The  commissioners  advocate 
the  establishment  of  shop  committees  to  represent  the  men  and 
to  confer  with  representatives  of  the  employers  "  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  questions  affecting  labor  as  they  may  arise  in  the 
shops."  They  express  themselves  as  "  thoroughly  in  accord 
with  the  underlying  principles  "  of  the  report  of  the  Reconstruc- 
tion Committee  on  industrial  councils.  In  their  own  particular 
area,  they  feel  some  doubt  "  as  to  whether  in  view  of  the  exist- 
ing machinery  for  the  settlement  of  disputes  and  the  discussion 
of  policy  affecting  the  regulation  of  labor,  there  would  not  be 

1  Industrial  Unrest  in  Great  Britain,  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  U.  S. 
Department  of  Labor.    Bulletin  237,  p.  12. 


284  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

considerable  danger  that  the  setting  up  of  new  machinery  might 
impair  the  usefulness  of  that  which  now  exists."  In  any  case 
they  caution  against  making  the  machinery  too  elaborate.^ 

Division  2 — Northwest  Area.  The  support  of  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  Reconstruction  Committee  by  the  commission- 
ers of  this  area  are  very  cordial.  These  recommendations  fall 
in  line  with  suggestions  which  the  commissioners  make  as  to  the 
need  of  decentralized  control  of  industry  by  the  government. 
The  commissioners  assert  that  "  what  is  wanted  in  industry  is  a 
reconstruction  of  ideas,  and  both  capital  and  labor  have  got  to 
meet  together  and  carry  on  the  machinery  of  industry  on  the 
principle  that  they  must  be  ready  to  reject  all  prospects  of  gain 
which  involve  loss  to  others."  ^  They  state  that  they  have  been 
much  impressed  by  the  report  of  the  Reconstruction  Committee 
and  have  placed  the  proposals  before  important  deputations  of 
employers  and  workers  and  have  asked  their  opinion  of  them. 
"  Although  they  all  expressed  a  natural  desire  to  consider  them 
more  fully,  yet  the  principle  at  the  bottom  of  them  was  received 
with  cordial  approval.  This  principle,  which  seems  to  us  to  be 
a  statesmanlike  proposal  of  the  best  method  of  dealing  with 
unrest  ...  is  exactly  what  is  wanted  in  this  area  to  allay  many 
causes  of  industrial  unrest."  ^ 

The  commissioners  urge  the  importance  of  presenting  the 
proposals  to  conferences  of  the  leaders  of  trade  unions  and  of 
employers'  federations,  to  see  "  how  the  program  of  the  Recon- 
struction Committee  can  best  be  made  a  living  fact."  In  doing 
so  they  suggest  that  the  proposal  for  works  committees  be  pre- 
sented and  discussed  before  that  for  district  councils  is  taken  up. 

The  man  at  the  bench  is  not  greatly  interested  in  district  councils,  and 
national  industrial  councils  are  to  him  as  far  removed  from  his  ambition  as 
the  House  of  Lords,  but  the  shop  or  works  committee  is  another  thing 
altogether,  and  this  we  think  should  be  put  right  in  the  front  when  any  en- 
deavor is  made  to  explain  the  scheme  to  the  working  man.  We  know  this 
by  experience,  because  we  have  tried  to  explain  the  scheme  in  the  "  order  of 
going  in  "  assigned  to  the  various  councils  by  the  Reconstruction  Committee. 

*  Industrial  Unrest  in  Great  Britain,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  28-29. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  55. 

^Ihid. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  285 

When  we  approached  the  matter  by  describing  national  councils  first,  the 
working  man  was  not  interested,  as,  indeed,  why  should  he  be?  But  when 
we  began  to  describe  the  scheme,  starting  in  the  shop  and  gradually  by  a 
natural  evolution  blossoming  out  into  district  councils  and  finally  national 
councils,  he  got  a  real  grip  of  what  we  were  telling  him,  and  seemed  to 
think  there  was  a  lot  in  it,  and  that  it  was  a  practical  business  aflFair  touch- 
ing his  daily  life  which  he  would  like  to  take  a  hand  in  .  .  .  We  can  con- 
ceive no  better  method  of  impressing  the  people  that  the  government  is  in 
earnest  in  helping  to  allay  industrial  unrest  than  by  asking  representative 
bodies  of  men  and  employers  to  start  a  national  mission  to  the  country  to 
explain  to  working  men  that  in  the  future  handling  of  labor  th#  workers 
themselves  are  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  industrial  control.^ 

The  commissioners  discuss  briefly  the  question  of  the  restora- 
tion of  prewar  conditions  and  observe  that  labor  leaders  in  that 
area  desire  that  the  government's  promises  be  "  kept  in  the  spirit 
and  not  in  the  letter." 

After  the  war  we  have  abundant  evidence  that  the  real  hope  of  the  best 
workers  of  this  area  is  not  a  restoration  of  prewar  conditions,  but  a  far, 
far  better  thing.  As  a  modern  social  reformer  writes :  "  We  want  life  raised 
to  a  higher  level,  and  while  the  keenness  of  our  suflFerings  and  the  height 
of  our  exaltation  are  still  with  us,  the  larger  vision  prevails,"  and  what  they 
are  waiting  for  here  is  that  someone  should  announce  from  the  housetops 
that  this  is  what  the  government  is  ready  to  carry  out  with  the  power  of  the 
nation  at  their  back.  We  have  been  face  to  face  with  men  and  women  who 
are  working  for  their  country,  and  if  the  right  message  comes  from  those 
in  authority,  we  can  assure  the  government  that  they  are  ready  to  cooperate 
with  them  in  bringing  about  a  better  condition  of  things  in  the  industrial 
world. 2 

Division  3 — Yorkshire  and  East  Midlands  Area.  The  com- 
missioners in  this  area  do  not  refer  directly  to  the  proposals  of 
the  Reconstruction  Committee,  but  they  doubtless  have  them  in 
mind  when  they  say  that  many  of  the  men  have  expressed  a 
willingness  to  cooperate  with  the  management  in  establishing 
some  system  for  the  betterment  of  the  industry  and  when  they 
urge  "  the  immediate  introduction  and  setting  up  of  workshop 
committees,  composed  of  equal  numbers  of  workers  and  of  the 
management,  the  workers  being  elected  by  those  employed  in 
each   works,   for  the  consideration  of  questions  affecting  the 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  etc.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  56. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  57. 


286  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

industry."  They  also  provide  for  reference  of  matters  which 
can  not  be  settled  by  local  agreement  to  district  councils  and  if 
need  be  to  national  councils/  In  this  area  the  plan  of  a  "  shop 
committee,"  or  rank  and  file  movement,  with  shop  stewards 
elected  by  the  workers  in  each  shop,  had  already  developed  in  the 
engineering  industry  and  the  commissioners  were  inclined  to 
view  this  movement  with  favor  and  their  recommendations  of 
workshop  committees  seem  to  have  had  in  view  the  extension  and 
further  development  of  this  mode  of  organization. - 

Division  4 — West  Midlands  Area.  The  commissioners  in 
this  area  state  that  there  was  a  sharp  conflict  of  opinion  among 
witnesses  as  to  the  desirability  of  shop  committees.  Some  felt 
that  both  the  trade  union  authority  and  the  employer's  authority 
would  be  weakened  by  such  committees.  The  commissioners 
made  no  recommendations,  but  they  said  that  "  the  weight  of 
evidence  on  both  sides  is  against  the  change."  On  the  other 
hand  they  favor  organization  of  both  employers  and  employed 
as  "  the  best  security  for  industrial  peace."  Of  the  Whitley 
report  they  had  this  to  say : 

We  express  a  general  approval  of  that  report.  We  are  also  impressed 
with  the  advantages  in  large  works  of  frequent  meetings  between  men  and 
their  employers,  not  merely  managers  or  foremen.  This  takes  place  in  sev- 
eral works  where  men,  either  through  a  shop  committee  or  otherwise,  have 
regular  and  frequent  opportunities  of  meeting  a  partner,  if  the  business  is 
carried  on  by  a  firm,  or  a  director,  if  by  a  limited  company.  This  excellent 
practice  should  be  made  universal ;  it  brings  employers  and  employed  into 
touch,  gives  a  chance  of  settling  incipient  grievances,  and  affords  the  em- 
ployed some  say  as  to  the  conditions  under  which  they  work.^ 

Division  5-^— London  and  Southeastern  Area.  There  is  no 
specific  reference  to  the  Whitley  report  by  the  commissioners  in 
this  area,  though  they  call  attention  to  the  shop  steward  move- 
ment, which  they  think  is  likely  to  lead  to  revolutionary  activities 
"  unless  some  satisfactory  arrangement  be  made  for  representa- 
tion of  the  work  people  in  shop  negotiations."  * 

*  Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  83. 
2  Ibid.,  pp.  78.  81. 
^Ibid.,  p.  101. 
*Ihid.,  p.  111. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  287 

Division  6 — Southwest  Area.  The  commissioners  in  this 
area  content  themselves  with  stating  that :  "  The  general  princi- 
ple of  the  Whitley  report,  which  we  endorse,  is  acceptable  to 
employers  and  workers,"  and  with  a  commendation  of  the  Min- 
istry of  Munitions  for  establishing  workshop  committees  on  the 
lines  recommended  in  the  Whitley  report  in  munition  factories. 
They  recommended  that  the  same  steps  be  taken  in  the  Admiralty 
dockyards,  the  railway  shops,  and  where  possible  in  all  con- 
trolled establishments.  District  councils  in  the  munitions  areas 
are  also  recommended.^ 

Division  7 — Wales  and  Monmouthshire.  The  commissioners 
for  this  area  discuss  at  much  length  the  proposals  of  the  Whitley 
committee,  the  "  main  principles  "  of  which  they  "  gladly  adopt." 
They  say  that  they  had  invited  opinions  from  witnesses  in 
regard  to  these  proposals  and  "  quite  a  large  number  "  of  them, 
representing  both  employers  and  employed,  "  declared  themselves 
in  favor  of  the  principles  underlying  the  recommendations." 
The  representatives  of  both  the  North  Wales  Coal  Owners 
Association  and  of  the  South  Wales  Coal  Owners  Association, 
so  far  as  they  had  had  opportunity  to  discuss  the  matter,  favored 
the  plan  of  industrial  councils  and  even  regarded  it  as  essential 
that  some  experiment  on  the  lines  of  the  Whitley  report  be  tried. 
Although  the  South  Wales  Miners'  Federation  had  not  yet  sent 
in  an  expression  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  proposals,  resolu- 
tions from  the  South  Wales  Branch  of  the  National  Association 
of  Colliery  Managers  were  received,  which,  while  throwing  some 
doubt  on  the  practicability  of  some  of  the  proposals,  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  joint  councils  were  the  best  means  of  secur- 
ing better  relations  between  employers  and  employed  and  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  coal  mining  industry  was  already 
so  highly  organized  that  the  machinery  for  working  of  the  joint 
scheme  could  easily  be  set  up. 

There  was,  said  the  commissioners,  "  one  striking  exception  " 
to  the  general  endorsement  of  the  proposals  of  the  Whitley 
report.  The  owner  of  a  large  steel  and  tin  plate  works  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  industrial  councils  would  be  used  as  a  means 

^Industrial  Unrest,  loc.  cit.,  p.  121. 


288  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

of  manufacturing  grievances  on  the  part  of  the  men's  representa- 
tives.   To  this  the  commissioners  pertinently  reply : 

We  think  on  the  whole  that  this  view  is  probably  governed  too  largely 
by  the  idea  that  like  the  conciliation  boards  the  main  function  of  these  coun- 
cils would  be  to  consider  grievances.  The  report,  itself,  however,  makes  it 
sufficiently  clear  that  other  questions  should  bulk  far  more  largely  among 
the  duties  of  such  councils,  and  that  in  so  far  as  wages,  for  instance,  are 
concerned  the  councils  should  limit  themselves  to  the  consideration  of  gen- 
eral principles  rather  than  the  actual  fixing  of  definite  rates. 

We  are  ourselves  of  opinion  that  the  machinery  of  the  proposed  three- 
fold councils — works  committees,  district  councils,  national  councils — would 
provide  the  means  for  the  developing  of  the  policy  we  have  already  ad- 
vocated of  identifying  the  worker  more  closely  with  the  control  of  his  par- 
ticular industry,! 

The  commissioners  are  particularly  desirous  that  the  works 
committees  should  have  jurisdiction  over  the  discharge  of 
employes  and  over  the  appointment  and  dismissal  of  "  all  col- 
liery  firemen,  examiners  and  deputies."  ^ 

Division  8 — Scotland.  The  commissioners  from  this  area 
deal  very  briefly  with  the  proposals  of  the  Reconstruction  Com- 
mittee, but  they  say  that  the  plan  suggested  "  met  with  general 
approval."  "  None  of  the  organizations  represented  had  had 
time  to  study  it  minutely  or  to  consult  upon  it,  but  without  com- 
mitting themselves  to  details,  the  principle  of  the  report  of  the 
Reconstruction  Committee  was  favorably  received."  ^ 

The  Ministry  of  Labor,  besides  asking  the  commissions  on 
industrial  unrest  to  make  inquiries  concerning  the  attitude  of 
employers  and  working  men  towards  the  proposals  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Reconstruction,  in  July,  1917,  addressed  a  circular  let- 
ter to  the  principal  employers'  associations  and  trade  unions 
asking  for  their  views  on  the  proposals  made  in  the  Whitley 
report,  in  October  the  Minister  stated  that  replies  had  been 
received  from  a  large  number  of  employers'  organizations  and 
trade  unions  and  that  they  generally  favored  the  adoption  of 
the  proposals.*    Although  no  compilation  of  these  replies  has  so 

1  Industrial  Unrest,  etc.,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  172-175. 

^Ibid.,  p.  175. 

3  Ihid.,  p.  219. 

*  Industrial  Reports,  published  by  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  No.  1,  p.  2. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  289. 

far,  as  is  here  known,  been  published,  various  expressions  of 
opinion  by  employers  and  labor  organizations  have  been  made 
public.  It  might  naturally  be  expected  that  labor  organizations 
would  generally  approve  the  underlying  principles  of  the  plan, 
since  they  call  for  a  much  larger  participation  by  labor  in  indus- 
trial management  than  employers  have  usually  been  willing  to 
concede.  What  is  most  surprising  is  the  cordial  reception  which 
the  plan  seems  generally  to  have  received  from  employers. 

The  Federation  of  British  Industries,  meeting  in  the  summer 
of  1917,  after  giving  full  consideration  to  the  Whitley  report, 
gave  its  approval  to  the  plan.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the 
federation  expressed  the  opinion  that  in  order  to  insure  efficient 
production  after  the  war  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  the  coopera- 
tion of  labor,  and  that  laborers  will  have  the  right  to  demand 
improved  conditions  of  employment,  a  higher  standard  of  com- 
fort and  an  opportunity  to  appreciate  the  true  interests  of  the 
trade  in  which  they  are  engaged.  The  federation  believes  the 
best  results  of  such  cooperation  can  only  be  secured  when  com- 
plete organizations  of  employers  as  well  as  employes  exist  in 
each  trade.  If  any  considerable  number  of  either  employers  or 
employes  remain  outside  their  respective  organizations,  it 
becomes  almost  impossible  to  have  security  for  agreements 
arrived  at.  The  federation  considers  this  point  so  important 
that  it  favors  government  recognition  and  standing  of  organiza- 
tions of  employers  and  work  people,  but  it  desires  no  interference 
by  the  government  in  the  creation  of  the  proposed  organization. 

In  the  constitution  of  the  national  industrial  councils  the  feder- 
ation favors  centralization  of  policy  and  decentralization  of 
administration.  The  basis  of  the  scheme  should  be  the  trade 
councils  of  employers  and  employes,  that  is,  each  trade  or  section 
of  an  industry  should  form  a  council  representative  of  the 
employers'  organization  and  of  the  trade  or  section  of  an  indus- 
try. District  councils,  it  believes,  will  be  chiefly  useful  in  acting 
as  a  court  of  arbitration  in  the  case  of  any  industrial  dispute  in 
the  trade  in  the  district  which  arises  out  of  the  conditions  peculiar 
to  that  district. 

The  federation  thinks  the  works  committees  should  be  entirely 


290  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

voluntary  in  the  case  of  each  individual  firm,  and  not  in  any  way 
officially  constituted.  The  functions  of  these  committees,  it 
thinks,  should  be  limited  to  reporting  to,  or  receiving  from,  the 
management  complaints  regarding  breaches  of  any  agreements 
which  may  have  been  made  between  the  employers  and  the  work 
people. 

It  may  be  said  at  once  that  any  such  limited  scope  of  the 
work  of  the  works  committees  would  be  far  from  meeting  the 
wishes  of  the  representatives  of  the  working  classes  who  have 
interested  themselves  in  this  plan.  Their  chief  interest  in  the 
scheme  comes  from  the  promise  that  through  these  workshop 
committees  labor  can  share  in  the  management  of  industry,  in  so 
far  as  the  relations  between  labor  and  management  are  concerned. 

The  Federation  of  British  Industries  would  go  further  than 
the  creation  of  national  industrial  councils.  There  should  also 
be  a  superior  body  of  representatives  of  employers  and  employes 
in  each  group  of  trades  which  might  be  called  councils  of  indus- 
try and,  crowning  the  entire  scheme,  a  national  industrial  coun- 
cil, made  up  of  representatives  of  all  industries.  These  councils 
could  serve  among  other  purposes  as  courts  of  appeal  from  the 
trade  councils  where  employers  and  employes  in  such  councils 
could  not  agree.  The  federation  also  believes  that  some  of  the 
questions  dealt  with  in  the  Whitley  report  should  be  considered, 
first  of  all,  by  the  national  industrial  council  and  that  the  final 
decision  in  all  matters  of  general  policy  should  rest  with  the 
same  body  after  opportunities  for  criticism  had  been  given  to 
the  councils  of  industry  and  the  trade  councils.^ 

If  surprise  be  felt  by  the  reader  at  the  apparently  cordial 
support  which  British  employers  have  given  to  the  report  of 
the  Reconstruction  Committee,  which  implies  such  far  reaching 
consequences  in  the  relations  between  employers  and  employes, 
a  partial  explanation  for  this  liberal  attitude  of  employers  may 
be  found  in  the  fear  which  has  apparently  developed  during  the 
war  of  extended  government  ownership  and  management  of 
industry,  unless  some  plan  for  continued  private  ownership  be 

^  Abstract  of  report  of  the  British  Federation  of  Industries,  as  given  in 
the  Christian  Science  Monitor,  September  22,  1917. 


INDUSTRIAL   RECONSTRUCTION  291 

adopted  which  shall  be  mutually  satisfactory  to  capital  and  labor. 
In  the  above  account  of  the  suggestions  offered  by  the  British 
Federation  of  Industries,  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  view 
was  strongly  urged  that  there  should  be  government  recognition 
of  organizations  of  employers  and  work  people,  but  no  inter- 
ference with  their  plan  of  cooperation.  This  is  only  one  hint 
of  an  underlying  feeling  on  the  part  of  employers  which  finds 
more  complete  expression  in  a  leading  article  in  The  Economist 
of  December  1,  1917.  This  journal,  it  will  be  recognized,  is 
peculiarly  the  representative  of  the  financial  and  commercial 
classes  in  Great  Britain  and  therefore  may  be  expected  to  voice 
the  conservative  point  of  view.  After  giving  its  endorsement 
to  the  principle  of  the  Whitley  report,  this  article  proceeds  to 
contrast  the  workings  of  such  a  scheme  for  the  reorganization 
of  industry  with  those  which  it  believes  to  be  inherent  in  any 
system  of  government  ownership  and  management,  which  latter 
plan  it  condemns  in  the  following  words: 

Out  of  all  this  clash  between  government  departments  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  employers  and  workmen  on  the  other,  much  good  will  arise,  though 
we  shall  have  to  pay  pretty  heavily  for  it.  In  the  minds  both  of  employers 
and  workmen  of  all  classes  is  growing  up  a  profound  dislike  of  all  gov- 
ernment interference,  and  a  not  less  profound  determination  to  get  quit  of 
it  at  the  first  opportunity.  We  have  all  had  a  painful  lesson  in  state  social- 
ism and  it  stinks  in  our  nostrils.  The  old  demand  of  socialist  orators  that 
the  government  should  nationalize  this,  that  and  the  other  is  moribund,  if  not 
dead.  What  all  classes  now  want,  and  want  so  badly  that  their  hearts  ache 
for  it,  is  to  complete  the  war  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  the  Allies,  and  to 
get  rid  of  the  government  control  of  industry.  Both  employers  and  work- 
men want  to  try  a  new  system  of  self-government,  and  to  evolve  a  method 
of  working  which  will  give  to  all  producers  a  harmony  of  interest.  Nothing 
has  so  greatly  stimulated  this  common  desire  for  cooperation  as  the  ex- 
perience of  working  under  government  control  during  the  past  two  years, 
and  specially  during  the  last  year  when  departments,  commissions  and  com- 
mittees have  multiplied  so  rapidly  for  the  confounding  of  honest,  unhappy 
men  who  understand  their  work  and  want  to  be  allowed  to  get  on  with  it. 
When  the  war  ends  there  will  be  a  reaction  towards  independence  from 
control  which  may  carry  us  too  far  in  the  opposite  direction,  but  it  will  be 
as  healthy  as  the  present  system  is  unhealthy. 


292  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 


The  Government  Adopts  the  Whitley  Recommendations 

Expression  of  opinions  favorable  to  the  Committee  of  Recon- 
struction's plan  for  joint  standing  industrial  councils  had  been 
so  general  that  by  October  20,  1917,  the  Minister  of  Labor 
was  ready  to  announce  that  the  War  Cabinet  had  decided  to 
adopt  the  Whitley  report  as  "  part  of  the  policy  which  they  hope 
to  see  carried  into  effect  in  the  field  of  industrial  reconstruc- 
tion." The  Minister  felt  it  necessary  to  attempt  to  quiet  certain 
fears  which  had  been  expressed  by  some  persons  who  had 
examined  the  report  and  to  explain  why  the  government  felt  it 
desirable  that  employers  and  employes  should  put  the  plan  into 
operation  in  the  well  organized  industries.  As  to  the  fears 
which  had  been  expressed,  the  Minister  said:  (1)  That  this  plan 
did  not  contemplate  any  extension  of  state  interference  in  indus- 
try. "  The  formation  and  constitution  of  the  councils  must  be 
principally  the  work  of  the  industries  themselves."  When  formed 
they  would  elect  their  own  officers  and  determine  their  own  func- 
tions and  procedure.  (2)  That  the  adoption  of  the  plan  did  not 
mean  that  it  should  be  applied  without  modification  to  each 
industry.  "  Each  industry  must  adapt  the  proposals  made  in  the 
report  as  may  seem  most  suitable  to  its  own  needs."  In  some 
industries  works  committees  might  be  regarded  as  unnecessary. 
In  some  industries  the  functions  assigned  to  district  councils 
might  be  more  important  than  in  others.  (3)  That  "  it  should 
be  made  clear  that  representation  on  the  industrial  councils  is 
intended  to  be  on  the  basis  of  existing  organizations  among  em- 
ployers and  workmen  in  each  industry,"  although  the  councils 
when  formed  might  grant  representation  to  any  new  bodies 
which  had  come  into  existence  and  which  might  be  entitled  to 
representation.  (4)  That  the  scheme  was  not  intended  to  pro- 
mote compulsory  arbitration.^ 

The  reasons  why  the  government  was  "  anxious  to  see  indus- 

1  Industrial  Reports  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  No.  1,  pp.  1  3. 


INDUSTRIAL   RECONSTRUCTION  293 

trial  councils  established  as  soon  as  possible  in  the  organized 
trades,"  the  Minister  gave  as  follows: 

(1)  The  experience  of  the  war  had  shown  the  need  for  fre- 
quent consultation  between  the  government  and  the  chosen 
representatives  of  employers  and  workmen  in  the  industries  most 
affected  by  war  conditions,  and  it  was  desirable  to  have  clearly 
recognized  who  were  the  proper  and  duly  constituted  parties  to 
consult.  The  problems  which  would  arise  during  the  period 
of  transition  and  reconstruction  would  be  no  less  difficult  than 
those  which  had  arisen  during  the  war  and  the  government  would 
need  the  advice  of  the  industrial  authorities. 

There  arc  a  number  of  such  questions  on  which  the  government  will  need 
the  united  and  considered  opinion  of  each  large  industry,  such  as  the  de- 
mobilization of  the  forces,  the  resettlement  of  munition  workers  in  civil 
industries,  apprenticeship  (especially  when  interrupted  by  war  service),  the 
training  and  employment  of  disabled  soldiers,  and  the  control  of  raw  materials. 

(2)  It  would  further  be  necessary  to  insure  a  settlement  of 
the  "  more  permanent  questions  which  have  caused  differences 
between  employers  and  employed  in  the  past,  on  such  a  basis 
as  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  disputes  and  of  serious  stoppages 
in  the  difficult  period  during  which  the  problems  just  referred  to 
will  have  to  be  solved."  The  Minister  stated  that  the  govern- 
ment desired  it  to  be  understood  that  "  the  councils  will  be 
recognized  as  the  official  standing  consultative  committees  to  the 
government  on  all  future  questions  affecting  the  industries  which 
they  represent,"  and  he  closed  by  urging  that  the  representative 
organizations  of  employers  and  employes  come  together  in  the 
organized  trades  and  prepare  for  the  reconstruction  period  by 
creating  these  councils.^ 

The  Ministry  of  Reconstruction 

The  general  approval  which  the  report  of  the  Reconstruction 
Committee  received  was  doubtless  partly  responsible  for  the 
decision  of  the  government  to  organize  a  special  department  to 
deal  with  problems  bound  to  arise  and  to  demand  urgent  atten- 
tion on  the  conclusion  of  peace.     On  August  21,  1917,  Parlia- 

1  Industrial  Reports  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  No.  1,  pp.  3-6. 


294  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

ment  enacted  "  the  New  Ministries  Act,  1917,  which,  with  a  view 
to  promoting  the  work  of  organization  and  development  after 
the  termination  of  the  present  war,"  provided  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Minister  of  Reconstruction.  The  office  was  to  cease 
to  exist  two  years  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  The  work 
assigned  to  the  new  Ministry  is  best  shown  by  quoting  the 
following  paragraph  from  Section  2  of  the  act  creating  the 
ministry : 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Minister  of  Reconstruction  to  consider  and 
advise  upon  the  problems  which  may  arise  out  of  the  present  war  and  may 
have  to  be  dealt  with  upon  its  termination,  and  for  the  purposes  aforesaid  to 
institute  and  conduct  such  inquiries,  prepare  such  schemes,  and  make  such 
recommendations  as  he  thinks  fit,  and  the  Minister  of  Reconstruction  shall, 
for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  have  such  powers  and  duties  of  any  government 
department  or  authority,  which  have  been  conferred  by  or  under  any  statute, 
as  His  Majesty  may  by  order  in  council  authorize  the  Minister  to  exercise  or 
perform  concurrently  with,  or  in  consultation  with,  the  government  depart- 
ment or  authority  concerned.^ 

Since  the  creation  of  the  new  ministry  the  subcommittee  on 
relations  between  employers  and  employed  of  the  Committee  on 
Reconstruction  has  been  continued  as  the  Committee  on  the  Rela- 
tions between  Employers  and  Employed  of  the  Ministry  of  Re- 
construction. Dr.  Christopher  Addison,  who  had  been  the  Minister 
of  Munitions,  was  appointed  as  the  Minister  of  Reconstruction. 
On  October  24,  1917,  the  new  Minister  made  an  address  in 
which  he  set  forth  in  a  general  way  the  problems  which  the  new 
department  had  to  meet.  He  mentioned  in  particular  the  unem- 
ployment problem,  the  competition  which  would  take  place  at 
the  close  of  the  war  among  the  nations  to  secure  the  raw  materials 
needed,  the  need  for  cooperation  among  the  traders  to  help  the 
government  and  the  need  for  increased  productivity  which  could 
only  come  through  better  cooperation  between  capital  and  labor, 
better  conditions  of  life,  better  training  and  better  industrial 
methods.  He  commended  the  proposals  of  the  Whitley  report 
and  urged  employers  and  workers  to  get  together  and  "  form 
some  machinery  for  the  settlement  of  differences."    The  Minister 

'^British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.   1,   p.   902. 


INDUSTRIAL  RECONSTRUCTION  295 

also  called  attention  to  the  need  of  improved  housing  conditions, 
to  satisfy  which  called  for  the  cooperation  of  local  governments.^ 
The  work  of  the  new  Ministry  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
attempted  solution  of  labor  problems,  as  the  foregoing  remarks 
would  show,  and  as  is  shown  even  better  by  the  list  of  commis- 
sions and  committees  which  had  been  appointed  by  the  new 
Ministry  during  the  year  1917.  These  include  not  only  com- 
mittees on  demobilization,  labor  and  employment  and  housing, 
but  also  committees  and  commissions  dealing  with  various  aspects 
of  trade  development,  finance,  raw  materials,  coal  and  power, 
intelligence,  scientific  and  industrial  research,  agriculture  and 
forestry,  public  administration,  education,  aliens,  legal  interpre- 
tation and  other  matters.^ 

Second  Report  on  Industrial  Councils 

A  second  report  on  joint  standing  industrial  councils  by  the 
Committee  on  the  Relations  between  Employers  and  Employed 
was  made  in  October,  1917.  The  first  report  had  dealt  only  with 
those  industries  in  which  organizations  of  employers  and  em- 
ployed were  well  established  and  in  which  industries,  therefore, 
the  machinery  for  establishing  industrial  councils  could  easily 
be  set  up.  Besides  these  industries,  which  the  committee  treats 
as  Group  A,  it  is  recognized  that  there  are  two  other  industrial 
groups — "  Group  B,  comprising  those  industries  in  which, 
either  as  regards  employers  and  employed,  or  both,  the  degree 
of  organization,  while  considerable,  is  less  marked  than  in  Group 
A,"  and  "  Group  C,  consisting  of  industries  in  which  organiza- 
tion is  so  imperfect,  either  as  regards  employers  or  employed,  or 
both,  that  no  associations  can  be  said  adequately  to  represent 
those  engaged  in  the  industry." 

For  the  industries  in  Group  B,  the  committee  favors  the  appli- 
cation of  the  proposals  made  in  its  first  report  whenever  an 
examination  by  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  in  consultation  with  the 

^British  Industrial  Experience,  vol.  2,  pp.  1106-1107. 

-  A  list  of  commissions  and  committees  set  up  to  deal  with  questions  which 
will  arise  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Ministry  of  Reconstruction.  London, 
1918. 


296  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

association  concerned,  shows  that  the  organizations  are  suffi- 
ciently well  developed  to  permit  of  the  application  of  these 
proposals.  In  such  industries,  however,  whenever  it  is  proposed 
to  form  a  national  industrial  council  one  or  two  official  repre- 
sentatives should  assist  in  the  initiation  of  the  council  and  should 
continue  to  sit  with  it  in  an  advisory  capacity,  without  a  vote, 
until  the  organization  within  the  industry  is  so  complete  as  no 
longer  to  make  his  presence  and  advice  necessary.  Some  Group 
B  industries  might  be  so  situated  as  to  make  district  councils 
unnecessary,  though  a  national  council  was  formed ;  others  might 
require  district  councils  with  or  without  a  national  council. 
Though  not  directly  stated,  it  is  apparently  the  intention  of  the 
committee  that  works  committees  should  be  set  up  in  all  estab- 
lishments in  Group  B  industries  where  they  do  not  already  exist. 

Industries  in  Group  C,  because  of  their  lack  of  organization  of 
employers  and  workers,  are  not  yet  ready  for  either  national  or 
district  councils  or  for  the  sort  of  deliberation  and  agreements 
which  take  place  in  these  councils.  For  such  industries  the  com- 
mittee recommends  the  application  of  the  machinery  of  the 
Trade  Boards  Act,  "pending  the  development  of  such  degree 
of  organization  as  would  render  feasible  the  establishment  of  a 
national  council  or  district  council."  The  committee  favors  such 
modifications  of  the  Trade  Boards  Act  as  will  empower  the 
boards  to  deal  "  not  only  with  minimum  rates  of  wages  but  with 
hours  of  labor  and  questions  cognate  to  wages  and  hours." 
Where  an  industry  in  Group  C  becomes  sufficiently  organized 
to  permit  of  the  establishment  of  industrial  or  district  councils, 
the  committee  recommends  that  the  trade  board  in  that  industry 
bring  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  Minister  of  Labor,  in 
order  that  the  steps  necessary  to  the  establishment  of  such  coun- 
cils may  be  taken. 

In  any  industry  in  Group  A  or  B  which  has  sections  or  areas  in 
which  there  is  not  adequate  organization  to  make  participation 
in  the  industrial  councils  practicable,  the  committee  recommends 
that  the  national  industrial  council  in  that  trade  apply  for  an 
order  which  shall  either  institute  a  trade  board  for  that  section 
of  the  industry  or  authorize  the  industrial  council  itself  to  act  as 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  297 

a  trade  board  under  the  act,  and  the  committee  recommends 
legislation  which  shall  give  to  the  Minister  of  Labor  the  power 
to  issue  such  an  order.  This  would  bring  the  entire  trade  up  to 
the  standard  of  minimum  conditions  which  had  been  agreed 
upon  by  the  industrial  council.  In  this  way  the  committee 
believes  that  "  most  of  the  chief  industries  of  the  country  could 
be  brought  under  one  or  other  of  the  schemes  contained  in  this 
and  the  preceding  report.  There  would  then  be  broadly  two 
classes  of  industries  in  the  country — industries  with  industrial 
councils  and  industries  with  trade  boards."  ^ 

Works  Committees 

In  the  report  which  we  have  just  summarized,  the  Committee 
on  Relations  between  Emplo}ers  and  Employed  does  not  deal 
with  the  question  of  works  committees  in  industries  in  Group  C, 
but  in  a  supplementary  report,  made  at  the  same  time,  it  deals 
with  the  whole  question  of  works  committees.  We  have  already 
noticed  that  in  the  reports  of  the  Commissions  on  Industrial 
Unrest,  it  was  stated  that  the  employes  consulted  showed 
especial  interest  in  that  part  of  the  committee's  report  which 
had  to  do  with  works  committees.  The  committee  itself  regards 
the  works  committees  as  "  an  essential  part  of  the  scheme  of 
organization,*  which  it  has  suggested  and  it  does  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  the  successful  development  and  utilization  of  such 
committees  is  of  equal  importance  with  the  commercial  and 
scientific  efficiency  of  the  business.  It  believes  that  one  of  the 
partners  or  directors  of  every  business  should  "devote  a  sub- 
stantial part  of  his  time  and  thought  to  the  good  working  and 
development  of  such  a  committee," 

The  peculiar  function  of  the  works  committee  is  to  establish 
and  maintain  a  system  of  cooperation  between  employers  and 
employed  in  the  individual  establishment  in  matters  affecting  the 
daily  life  and  comfort  of  the  employes  and  the  efficiency  of  the 
business.     Such  a  committee  would  not  concern  itself  with  such 

1  Ministry  of  Reconstruction,  Second  Report  on  Joint  Standing  Industrial 
Councils.    London,  1918. 


298  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

questions  as  the  rates  of  wages  and  the  hours  of  work,  for 
these  are  matters  to  be  dealt  with  by  district  or  national  councils. 
Works  committees  need  not  all  be  alike  in  form,  but  should  con- 
form to  the  particular  circumstances  of  the  trade.  The  commit- 
tee emphasizes  the  statement  that  such  committees  must  not  be 
regarded  as  in  any  way  a  substitute  for,  or  an  interference  with, 
trade  unionism.  On  the  contrary  the  complete  success  of  these 
committees  depends  upon  the  degree  and  efficiency  of  organiza- 
tion in  the  trade.  This  seems  to  be  the  nearest  to  which  the 
committee  comes  to  answering  the  question  which  it  had  raised 
in  the  second  report,  z>i2.,  whether  or  not  works  committees  could 
be  organized  and  made  use  of  in  industries  in  Group  C.^  In  its 
supplementary  report  the  committee  recommended  to  employers 
and  employed  that  they  should  study  the  experience  which  had 
already  been  had,  both  before  and  during  the  war,  with  works 
committees,  and  stated  that  on  its  recommendation  the  Ministry 
of  Labor  had  issued  a  memorandum  on  such  experience  for  the 
benefit  of  employers  and  work  people. 

This  report  ^  by  the  Minister  of  Labor  was  made  public  in 
March,  1918.  It  is  outside  the  scope  of  this  work  to  deal  fully 
with  this  report,  which  shows  what  was  the  extent  and  what  were 
the  functions  of  works  committees  which  had  come  into  exist- 
ence in  various  establishments  before  and  during  the  war.  It  may 
be  stated,  however,  that  while  such  committees,  existing  under  a 
great  variety  of  names,  had  long  been  known  in  various  indus- 
tries, usually  as  a  part  of  the  machinery  of  trade  unionism,  the 
war  was  largely  responsible  for  bringing  them  into  existence  in 
the  engineering  trades,  where  there  had  taken  place  "  such  a 
change  in  both  the  form  and  function  of  workshop  organization 
that  the  discussion  of  the  general  idea  of  works  committees  may 
be  said  to  have  developed  out  of  those  conditions."  ^ 

Not  one  condition  but  a  variety  of  conditions  had  been  respon- 
sible for  this  war  time  development  of  works  committees.     An 

1  Ministry  of  Reconstruction,  Supplementary  Report  on  Works  Commit- 
tees.   London,  1918. 

2  Report  of  an  Inquiry  into   Works  Committees  made  by  the  Minister  of 
Labor.     Industrial  Reports,  No.  2.     London,  1918. 

3  Works  Committees,  Industrial  Reports,  No.  2,  p.  3. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  299 

embryonic  system  of  shop  stewards,  acting  originally  for  their 
trade  unions,  had  in  some  cases  developed  into  an  organization 
which  had  gained  in  strength  and  prestige  as  the  power  of  the 
trade  union  officials  had  declined,  due  to  the  loss  of  the  right  to 
strike.  The  introduction  of  dilution  had  also  presented  many 
questions  of  detail  which  required  the  establishment  of  dilution 
committees  in  many  establishments,  with  which  committees  of 
workers  the  management  conferred  in  its  endeavor  to  answer 
these  questions.  So  also  methods  of  remuneration,  time  keeping, 
welfare  work,  war  charity  and  other  causes  had  been  at  times 
and  in  various  places  responsible  for  the  growth  of  an  organiza- 
tion within  an  industrial  establishment  which  had  developed 
into  a  genuine  works  committee,  if  it  had  succeeded  in  securing 
the  confidence  of  both  the  workers  and  the  management.^ 

It  appears  from  this  report  that  of  the  existing  works  commit- 
tees there  are  few  on  which  the  management  has  direct  repre- 
sentation. Most  of  them  have  only  representatives  of  the  work- 
ers. Sometimes  there  are  separate  committees  for  the  skilled 
and  for  the  unskilled  workers.  Separate  committees  to  represent 
the  women  workers  are  rare,  but  they  frequently  have  representa- 
tion of  some  sort  on  the  committee.  Where  the  majority  of  the 
men  in  any  establishment  are  unionists,  the  tendency  is  to  place 
only  union  men  on  the  committee.  The  size  of  the  committees 
in  existence  varies  from  12  to  more  than  30.^  The  report  urges 
strongly  that  where  works  committees  exist  and  are  recognized 
and  dealt  with  by  the  management,  those  who  represent  the 
management  on  the  committee,  if  it  be  a  joint  committee,  or  who 
meet  the  committee,  if  they  are  not  members,  should  belong  to 
the  highest  rank  and  should  include  the  works  manager  or,  if 
there  be  one,  the  labor  superintendent,  and  one  or  more  of  the 
directors.  Both  sides  are  likely  to  gain  by  this  direct  contact 
between  the  management  and  the  workers.^ 

The  functions  of  the  works  committees  vary  even  more  than 
do  their  types.  The  rule  is  almost  invariable  that  their  functions 
are  consultative  rather  than  executive : 

1  Works  Committees,  lac.  cit.,  pp.  9-13. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  14-20. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  25-26. 


300  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

Usually  a  works  committee  can  bring  matters  before  the  management  and 
discuss  them  with  the  management ;  it  can  press  its  views  about  these  matters 
on  the  management ;  m  the  last  resort,  it  can  induce  the  trade  union  organiza- 
tion to  call  a  strike.  But  the  works  committee  can  not,  usually,  as  such  carry 
its  views  into  action,  or  msure  that  they  shall  be  carried  into  action  by  any 
direct  machinery.  The  management  has  the  executive  power,  and  unless  the 
management  is  impressed  by  the  representations  of  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee, or  by  the  sanction-  which  lies  behind  them,  those  representations  will 
not  lead  to  executive  action.* 

The  works  committees,  therefore,  present  grievances  of  the 
workers  to  the  management.  Their  right  to  do  so  is  recognized 
by  the  management  and  usually  the  management  welcomes  the 
cooperation  of  the  works  committee  in  attempting  to  adjust  these 
grievances.  The  committee  does  not  consider  district  rates  of 
wages,  hours  of  work  or  other  general  conditions  common  to 
the  district  or  to  the  industry  as  a  whole.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  does  consider  and  present  individual  complaints  about  wages 
and  piece  rates.  It  considers  with  the  management  the  inter- 
pretation of  awards  and  orders  and  the  conditions  of  work 
within  the  establishment.  In  some  cases  it  has  made  suggestions 
as  to  economies  in  the  running  of  machinery,  has  improved  time 
keeping  and  discipline.  The  extent  to  which  dilution  was  to  be 
introduced  has  been  dealt  with  by  some  committees  and  the 
works  committee  has  been  permitted  by  the  management  to 
suggest  alternatives  to  dilution  which  have  been  adopted.  It 
seems  generally  to  be  admitted  that  the  works  committee  should 
be  consulted  in  regard  to  dismissal  of  employes  and  in  the 
matter  of  reducing  the  working  force  in  dull  seasons.  Some 
employers  are  willing  to  take  up  with  the  works  committee  the 
selection  of  the  foremen. 

On  the  whole,  the  impression  which  one  gains  from  the  survey 
of  the  field  covered  by  such  works  committees  as  have  come  into 
existence  in  Great  Britain  prior  to  or  during  the  war  is  that 
these  committees  have  not  yet  in  most  cases  come  to  participate 
in  the  management  of  industrial  establishments,  to  the  extent 
favored  by  the  Committee  on  the  Relations  between  Employers 
and  Employed  of  the  Ministry  of  Reconstruction.     They  have 

1  Works  Committees,  loc.  cit.,  p.  27. 


INDUSTRIAL   RECONSTRUCTION  301 

usually  come  into  existence  on  the  initiative  of  the  workers  and 
in  engineering  establishments,  at  least,  to  represent  the  workers' 
point  of  view  in  ways  which  could  no  longer  be  adequately 
represented  by  the  trade  unions.  The  employer  has,  therefore, 
not  usually  been  directly  represented  on  these  committees  and 
while  he  has  tolerated,  perhaps  even  welcomed,  their  assistance, 
owing  to  the  necessities  of  the  labor  situation,  there  still  remains 
much  to  be  done  before  it  can  be  said  that  works  committees  can 
be  regarded  as  a  necessary  and  well  recognized  part  of  the 
machinery  of  industrial  management.^ 

The  relations  of  the  works  committees  with  the  trade  unions 
can  not  be  said  to  be  definitely  settled.  Generally  speaking,  it 
may  be  said  that  the  closer  these  committees  are  to  the  manage- 
ment the  farther  removed  are  they  from  the  trade  unions  and 
vice  versa,  though  this  is  clearly  not  the  desire  or  intention  of  the 
Whitley  committee.  A  certain  suspicion  of  the  works  commit- 
tee seems  to  have  been  developed  among  the  leaders  of  unionism, 
due  to  the  fact  that  these  committees  have  developed  rapidly 
during  the  war  to  deal  with  questions  with  which  the  unions 
could  not  deal  because  of  their  agreements  with  the  government, 
which  had  been  translated  into  legislation.  On  the  whole,  how- 
ever, there  seems  to  be  no  idea  of  a  permanent  hostility  between 
the  works  committees  and  the  trade  unions.  "  General  questions 
of  district  or  national  conditions  are  left  to  the  trade  unions, 
while  the  works  committee  deals  with  either  the  detailed  appli- 
cation of  these  general  rules  within  the  works  or  with  questions 
entirely  peculiar  to  the  works."  ^ 

Difficulties  arise,  of  course,  where  there  are  several,  or  even 
many,  unions  represented  in  the  same  establishment  or  where  the 

*  Mr.  G.  D.  H.  Cole,  "  Recent  Developments  in  the  British  Labor  Move- 
ment," American  Economic  Review,  September,  1918,  who  speaks  of  the 
Whitley  report  as  an  "  unsatisfactory  tribute  "  to  the  demands  of  labor  and 
as  being  "the  offer  of  a  partial  and  limited  joint  control  by  employers  and 
trade  union  representatives,"  appears  to  think  that  the  shop  stewards  move- 
ment which  has  grown  up  during  the  war  in  the  engineering  industrv  is  a 
much  more  democratic  movement  than  the  plan  favored  by  the  Whitley 
report.  But  if  the  conclusions  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor  report  on  works 
committees  are  to  be  relied  upon,  the  influence  exercised  on  industrial  man- 
agement by  existing  works  committees  is  less  than  that  favored  by  the 
Whitley  report. 

2  Works  Committees,  loc.  cit.,  p.  39. 


302  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

skilled  men  are  organized  into  unions  and  the  unskilled  are  not, 
but  these  matters  are  capable  of  adjustment  and,  on  the  whole, 
it  is  possible  that  the  development  of  works  committees  will 
strengthen  rather  than  weaken  the  trade  union  movement. 

Conciliation  and  Arbitration 

The  mention  by  the  Whitley  committee  of  the  subjects  of 
arbitration  and  conciliation  in  its  earlier  reports  and  the  erron- 
eous impression  which  had  been  left  upon  some  people  that  the 
industrial  councils  were  intended  mainly  to  provide  new 
machinery  for  settling  industrial  disputes  led  the  committee  at 
the  end  of  January,  1918,  to  issue  a  special  report  on  conciliation 
and  arbitration,  in  which  its  views  on  these  subjects  were  set 
forth  at  some  length. 

The  committee  is  opposed  to  any  system  of  compulsory  arbi- 
tration. Full  of  significance  is  the  following  sentence:  "The 
experience  of  compulsory  arbitration  during  the  war  has  shown 
that  it  is  not  a  successful  method  of  avoiding  strikes,  and  in 
normal  times  it  would  undoubtedly  prove  even  less  successful." 
The  committee  is  not  even  in  favor  of  any  scheme  "  which  com- 
pulsorily  prevents  strikes  or  lockouts  pending  inquiry,"  but  it 
does  favor  agreements  between  the  parties  which  provide  that 
the  matter  in  dispute  shall  be  left  to  arbitration,  and  it  favors 
arrangements  in  the  organized  trades  "  for  holding  an  inquiry 
before  recourse  to  the  extreme  measures."  It  also  favors  giving 
to  the  Ministry  of  Labor  power  "  to  hold  a  full  inquiry  when 
satisfied  that  it  was  desirable,  without  prejudice  to  the  power  of 
the  disputing  parties  to  declare  a  strike  or  lockout  before  or 
during  the  progress  of  the  inquiry."  The  position  of  the  com- 
mittee may  therefore  be  summed  up  in  the  statement,  voluntary 
or  compulsory  investigation  and  publicity  without  compulsory 
arbitration.  The  committee  believes  that  the  machinery  for  the 
conciliatory  adjustment  of  disputes  which  already  exists  in  the 
important  trades  of  the  country  is  on  the  whole  satisfactory  and 
will  continue  after  the  war,  as  before,  to  achieve  success  in  most 
instances,  especially  as  the  various  conciliation  and  arbitration 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  303 

boards  may  become  merged  in  or  correlated  to  the  joint  industrial 
councils. 

The  committee  believes  that  the  state  might,  however,  go 
farther  than  it  had  gone  in  times  of  peace  in  furnishing  the 
machinery  for  voluntary  arbitration  of  disputes,  and  in  review- 
ing the  war  experience  it  reports  that,  of  the  various  tribunals 
set  up  by  the  government  to  settle  disputes  under  the  Munitions 
of  War  Acts,  the  Committee  on  Production,  consisting  of  three 
independent  persons  appointed  by  the  government,  had  settled  the 
majority  of  disputes  referred  to  arbitration  during  the  war,  other 
than  those  affecting  the  wages  of  women  on  munitions  work. 
The  committee  therefore  concludes : 

For  these  reasons  it  would  appear  desirable  that  there  should  be  a  standing 
arbitration  council  on  the  lines  of  the  present  temporary  Committee  on  Pro- 
duction to  which  differences  of  general  principles  and  differences  affecting 
whole  industries  or  large  sections  of  industries  may  be  referred  in  cases 
where  the  parties  have  failed  to  come  to  an  agreement  through  their  ordin- 
ary procedure,  and  wish  to  refer  the  differences  to  arbitration. 

Such  tribunal  should  include  in  its  membership  persons  who  have  practical 
experience  and  knowledge  of  industry,  and  who  are  acquainted  with  the  re- 
spective standpoints  of  employers  and  work  people. 

The  committee  generally  favors  a  tribunal  of  three  persons, 
but  recognizes  that  there  are  cases  where  a  single  arbitrator  may 
be  preferable  for  hearing  local  disputes,  etc.  It  also  suggests  that 
in  order  that  there  may  be  coordination  of  decisions  by  the  local 
arbitrators,  the  department  which  appoints  the  arbitrators  should 
circulate  among  them  the  awards  and  decisions  of  the  standing 
arbitration  council.^ 


The  Government  Takes  Steps  to  Establish  Industrial 

Councils 

Having  satisfied  itself  that  the  proposals  of  the  Whitley  com- 
mittee as  to  joint  standing  industrial  councils  generally  met  with 
the  approval  of  employers'  associations  and  the  trade  unions,  the 

1  Ministry  of  Reconstruction,  Report  on  Conciliation  and  Arbitration. 
London,  1918.  This  report  is  reprinted  in  the  Monthly  Labor  Review  of  the 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  August,  1918,  pp.  237-240. 


304  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

British  Government  announced  its  own  acceptance  of  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  committee's  report  as  far  as  they  called  for 
action  on  its  part  and  on  October  20,  1917,  the  Minister  of  Labor 
announced  that  "  the  government  desires  it  to  be  understood  that 
the  councils  will  be  recognized  as  the  official  standing  consultative 
committees  to  the  government  on  all  future  questions  affecting 
the  industries  which  they  represent,  and  that  they  will  be  the 
normal  channel  through  which  the  opinion  and  experience  of  an 
industry  will  be  sought  on  all  questions  with  which  the  industry 
is  concerned."  ^  In  order  that  a  council  should  be  entitled  to 
this  recognition,  however,  it  must  satisfy  the  Minister  of  Labor 
that  it  was  so  constituted  as  to  be  truly  representative  of  the 
industry.  The  government  has  set  forth  at  some  length  what 
functions  it  thinks  such  councils  should  exercise  and  has  made 
suggestions  as  to  the  form  of  the  constitution  of  a  joint  industrial 
council.^  It  has  also  expressed  the  hope  that  the  establishment 
of  such  councils  will  "  make  unnecessary  a  large  amount  of 
*  governmental  interference.'  which  is  at  present  unavoidable, 
and  substitute  for  it  a  real  measure  of  '  self-government '  in 
industry."  ^ 

That  the  government  is  in  earnest  in  its  desire  to  see  the  indus- 
trial councils  established  in  private  industries  is  evidenced  by  the 
report  of  the  representative  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics  in  England  to  the  effect  that  the  public  interest 
in  the  Whitley  report  is  probably  greater  than  in  any  one  recon- 
struction scheme  and  that  the  Minister  of  Labor  is  "  almost  daily 
attending  meetings  arranged  to  enable  him  to  meet  associations 
of  employers  and  work  people  in  a  given  trade  at  the  same  time."  * 
Nearly  every  trade  in  the  United  Kingdom  had  the  question  of 
establishing  industrial  councils  under  consideration  and  up  to  the 
beginning  of  August,  1918,  the  pottery  trade,  the  building  trades, 
gold,  silver  and  kindred  trades,  rubber  manufacturing,  the  silk 
industry,  the  furniture  trade,  the  manufacture  of  watches,  had  all 
organized  joint  industrial  councils  which  had  held  their  first 

^  Quoted  in  the  Monthly  Labor  Review,  vol.  7,  p.  76. 

2  [bid.,  pp.  76-79. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  28. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  80. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  305 

meetings.  Twenty-one  other  industries  are  mentioned  "  in  which 
considerable  progress  has  been  made  towards  the  formation  of 
joint  industrial  councils,"  and  "  inquiries  with  regard  to  the  for- 
mation of  joint  industrial  councils  are  now  proceeding  in  some 
thirty  other  industries  and  the  ministry  of  reconstruction  have 
formed  interim  reconstruction  committees  for  about  twenty  other 
industries  which  may,  in  some  cases,  develop  into  joint  industrial 
councils.^ 

It  thus  appears  that  the  movement  for  joint  industrial  councils 
is  making  rapid  headway  in  private  industries.  The  government 
has  been  criticized  for  not  having  set  an  example  to  employers 
and  showing  its  faith  by  its  works,  by  setting  up  industrial  coun- 
cils in  its  own  industries.  It  has  been  urged  that  this  be  done 
especially  in  the  Post  Oflfice,  and  the  Assistant  Postmas'ter  Gen- 
eral said  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  June  12,  1918,  that  this 
proposal  would  come  before  the  Cabinet  in  a  short  time.^ 

Industrial  Councils  and  Trade  Boards 

Having  announced  its  acceptance  of  the  proposals  of  the  first 
report  on  joint  standing  industrial  councils,  the  government  in 
June,  1918,  took  up  the  proposals  of  the  second  report  and  in  a 
joint  memorandum  of  the  Minister  of  Reconstruction  and  the 
Minister  of  Labor  set  forth  its  policy  with  reference  to  industries 
in  Groups  B  and  C,  as  dealt  with  in  that  report.  The  announce- 
ment was  made  that  it  had  not  been  found  possible,  from  the 
administrative  point  of  view,  to  adopt  the  whole  of  the  recom- 
mendations contained  in  the  second  report,  but  that  the  modi- 
fications which  it  had  been  necessary  to  make  did  not  affect  the 
principles  underlying  the  committee's  reports. 

The  modifications  which  it  had  been  found  necessary  to  make 
were  as  follows: 

(1)  It  was  decided  to  recognize  one  type  of  industrial  council 
only  and  not  to  attach  official  representatives  to  the  council, 
except  on  the  application  of  the  industrial  council  itself.     The 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1918.  p.  308. 
^Monthly  Labor  Review,  vol.  7,  p.  80. 


306  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS   AND    LEGISLATION 

government  thus  departed  from  the  plan  of  the  committee  to 
recognize  the  existence  of  some  industries  in  which  industrial 
organization  of  employers  and  employed  was  only  partially  de- 
veloped and  which  would  therefore  require  official  guidance  to 
organize  industrial  councils.  The  memorandum  says  in  regard 
to  the  distinction  in  industrial  organization  which  the  committee 
sought  to  draw  :  "  The  only  clear  distinction  is  between  industries 
which  are  sufficiently  organized  to  justify  the  formation  of  a 
joint  industrial  council  and  those  which  are  not  sufficiently 
organized,"  and  in  regard  to  the  proposal  for  official  advisers, 
it  said:  "It  is  fundamental  to  the  idea  of  a  joint  industrial 
council  that  it  is  a  voluntary  body  set  up  by  the  industry  itself, 
acting  as  an  independent  body  and  entirely  free  from  state 
control." 

(2)  The  committee's  proposals  in  regard  to  industries  not 
having  an  organization  sufficiently  developed  to  warrant  the 
immediate  establishment  of  an  industrial  council,  that  trade 
boards  should  be  continued  or  established,  and  that  these  should, 
with  the  approval  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor  be  enabled  to  for- 
mulate a  scheme  for  an  industrial  council,  were  regarded  as 
impracticable  owing  to  "  the  wide  differences  in  the  purpose  and 
structure  of  the  two  types  of  bodies."  The  memorandum  points 
out  at  some  length  the  fundamental  differences  between  the  two 
bodies  which  may  be  briefly  set  forth  as  follows:  (a)  A  joint 
industrial  council  is  voluntary  in  its  character;  a  trade  board  is 
a  statutory  body  established  by  the  Minister  of  Labor,  (b)  An 
industrial  council  is  able  within  wide  limits  to  determine  its  own 
functions;  a  trade  board  has  as  its  primary  function  the  deter- 
mination of  minimum  rates  of  wages,  (c)  An  industrial  council 
is  self-supporting  and  will  receive  no  monetary  aid  from  the  gov- 
ernment; a  trade  board's  expenses  are  defrayed  out  of  public 
money,  (d)  An  industrial  council  is  composed  entirely  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  employers'  associations  and  trade  unions  in  the 
industry;  a  trade  board  includes  not  only  representatives  from 
the  industry  but  appointed  members  unconnected  with  the  trade, 
(e)  An  industrial  council  exercises  direct  influence  only  over  the 
organizations  represented  upon  it;  a  trade  board  is  not  based  on 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  307 

existing  organizations  of  employers  and  employed,  but  covers  the 
whole  of  the  trade.  The  memorandum  says  that  in  view  of  these 
distinctions  in  function  and  purpose  between  industrial  councils 
and  trade  boards  "  it  is  possible  that  both  a  joint  industrial 
council  and  a  trade  board  may  be  necessary  within  the  same 
industry."  ^  While  this  may  be  possible,  this  certainly  would 
not  harmonize  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  industrial  councils 
which  were  intended  to  provide  a  democratic  method  of  indus- 
trial control,  without  interference  by  the  state. 

The  discussion  of  the  resemblances  and  differences  between 
industrial  councils  and  trade  boards  and  a  realization  of  the  fact 
that  some  industries  were  not  provided  for  by  other  .schemes 
may  have  influenced  Parliament  .somewhat  in  its  decision  to 
amend  the  Trade  Boards  Act,  1909,  in  such  a  way  as  to  provide 
for  a  considerable  extension  of  that  mode  of  indu.strial  regula- 
tion. The  reasons  which  prompted  the  legislation  of  1918  are 
thus  stated  by  the  Labour  Gazette  :^ 

In  view  of  the  dislocation  of  industry  which  it  is  apprehended  may  occur 
after  the  war,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  the  problem  of  inadequate  wages 
for  unskilled  and  unorganized  workers,  particularly  women,  may  be  ren- 
dered exceptionally  acute.  On  the  one  hand  there  are  a  large  number  of 
women  who  have  left  such  occupations  as  dressmaking  in  order  to  work 
in  munition  works  and  other  war  industries ;  and  on  the  other  hand  large 
numbers  of  women  have  entered  occupations  which  were  formerly  confined 
to  men.  The  first  class  will  tend  to  try  to  find  work  in  their  old  trades  when 
the  demand  for  war  material  slackens,  with  keen  competition  for  employment 
in  these  trades  as  a  result ;  and  the  second  class  will  in  many  cases  be 
driven  to  compete  for  employment  with  the  returning  soldiers.  In  both 
cases  the  competition  for  employment  may  reduce  wages  to  an  unduly  low 
level,  unless  precautionary  measures  are  taken. 

The  success  of  the  Trade  Boards  Act,  1909,  seemed  assured, 
but  there  was  need  of  making  such  change  in  the  act  as  should 
make  it  unnecessary  to  secure  a  parliamentary  order  before  trade 
boards  could  be  established  in  new  trades.  Under  the  new  act 
the  Minister  of  Labor  can  bring  a  trade  within  the  scope  of  the 
principal  act  by  means  of  a  special  order,  although  Parliament 
may  later  annul  this  .special  order.    The  Minister  of  Labor  may 

^  Industrial  Councils  and  Trade  Boards.    Memorandum  by  the  Minister  of 
Reconstruction  and  the  Minister  of  Labor.    London,  1918. 
2 1918,  p.  307. 


308  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION' 

also  extend  the  Act  of  1009  to  "  any  trade  in  which  on  account 
of  defective  organization  wages  are  unduly  low,  or  there  is 
reason  to  apprehend  an  undue  fall  in  wages  when  the  special  war 
conditions  have  passed."  Under  the  new  act,  a  rate  fixed  by 
a  trade  board  may  be  brought  into  full  operation  within  three 
months  after  it  has  been  proposed  by  a  trade  board,  instead  of 
nine  months  as  under  the  Act  of  1909.  The  recommendation 
of  the  Whitley  report  that  trade  boards  be  allowed  to  make 
recommendations  to  government  departments  with  respect  to 
industrial  conditions  in  their  trades  was  also  incorporated  in  the 
new  act.^ 

Reconstruction  Program  of  the  British  Labor  Party 

This  chapter  would  be  incomplete  if  it  did'not  discuss,  at  least 
briefly,  some  of  the  demands  in  the  reconstruction  program  of 
the  British  Labor  party  which  has  been  given  wide  publicity 
under  the  title  of  Labour  and  the  New  Social  Order.  Although 
it  is  not  the  function  of  this  monograph  to  discuss  platforms  of 
any  political  party,  the  circumstances  under  which  this  document 
has  appeared,  as  well  as  the  substance  of  the  proposals  themselves 
and  the  forceful,  yet  dignified  way  in  which  Labor  has  set  forth 
its  after  the  war  aims,  justifies  us  in  departing  from  the  usual 
rule,  especially  in  so  far  as  the  labor  planks  in  the  program  are 
concerned. 

The  British  Labor  party,  which  was  formed  in  1000  and  in 
that  year  had  a  total  membership  of  375,931,  has  had  a  remark- 
able growth,  especially  during  the  period  of  the  war.  In  1017 
the  total  membership,  made  up  of  trade  union  members  and 
members  of  socialist  societies,  with  a  few  members  from  other 
organizations,  was  given  as  2.4G5.131.  The  cooperation  between 
the  party  and  the  parliamentary  committee  of  the  Trades  Union 
Congress  has  become  very  marked.  Furthermore,  within  the  last 
year  it  has  appeared  that  the  Labor  party  is  likely  to  receive 
strong  support  from  members  of  the  cooperative  societies  which 
have  through  their  cooperative  congress  steadily  refused  in  the 
past  to  engage  in  political  activities.    Owing  to  the  adoption  by 

1  Labour  Gazette.  1918,  p.  308. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  309 

the  government  of  the  policy  of  taxing  cooperative  dividends 
as  though  they  were  profits,  in  the  face  of  strong  protest  from 
the  cooperative  societies,  an  emergency  conference  of  the  cooper- 
ative movement  in  London  in  October,  1917,  decided,  practically 
unanimously,  to  take  up  political  activity.  The  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Labor  party  and  the  parliamentary  committee  of 
the  Trades  Union  Congress  invited  the  new  political  committee  of 
the  cooperative  movement  to  confer  with  them  in  regard  to  a 
common  program,  and  this  invitation  was  accepted.  It  seems 
likely,  therefore,  that  in  seeking  to  carry  out  its  new  program  the 
Labor  party  can  count  on  considerable  support  from  the  co- 
operative movement. 

The  executive  committee  of  the  Labor  party  appointed  late  in 
1917  a  special  subcommittee  to  consider  and  report  upon  the 
subject  of  reconstruction  after  the  war.  This  subcommittee 
had,  by  the  beginning  of  1918,  prepared  the  report  entitled 
Labour  and  the  New  Social  Order,^  which  having  received  the 
sanction  of  the  executive  committee  was  published  and  circu- 
lated widely.  It  was  presented  to  the  Nottingham  conference  of 
the  party  in  January,  1918,  and  was  by  resolution  referred  by 
the  conference  to  all  the  constituent  organizations  of  the  party 
for  their  consideration  prior  to  being  taken  up  by  the  conference 
in  June.^ 

The  report '  begins  by  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  world 
is  standing  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  era  and  that,  if  civilization 
itself  it  not  about  to  perish,  at  least  the  basis  of  the  existing 
social  order — "  the  individualistic  system  of  capitalistic  produc- 
tion " — has  received  its  death  blow.  The  Labor  party,  it  goes  on 
to  say,  "  will  certainly  lend  no  hand  to  its  revival."  What  the 
report  attempts  to  do  is  to  lay  out  the  plans  for  the  new  social 
structure  which  it  is  hoped  will  take  the  place  of  the  one  doomed 
to  destruction.     The  four  pillars  of  the  house  which  the  Labor 

'  Mr.  G.  D.  H.  Cole  says :  "  This  memorandum  bears  in  every  line  the  evi- 
dence that  it  was  written  by  no  less  a  person  than  Mr.  Sidney  Webb."  ("  Re- 
cent Developments  in  the  British  Labor  Movement"  in  American  Economic 
Reviezv,  September.  1918.  p.  496.) 

2  Report  of  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Conference  of  the  Labor  Party,  Not- 
tingham and  London.  1918,  pp.  ^7,  116. 

3  In  the  following  abstract  I  have  taken  the  report  as  published  as  a 
supplement  to  The  New  Republic  for  February  16,  1918. 


310  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

party  proposes  to  erect,  "  resting  upon  the  common  foundation 
of  the  democratic  control  of  society  in  all  its  activities,"  it 
names  as  follows : 

(a)  The  universal  enforcement  of  the  national  minimum; 

(b)  The  democratic  control  of  industry; 

(c)  The  revolution  in  national  finance;  and 

(d)  The  surplus  wealth  for  the  common  good. 

By  a  national  minimum  the  authors  of  the  program  mean  "  the 
securing  to  every  member  of  the  community,  in  good  times  and 
bad  alike  (and  not  only  to  the  strong  and  able,  the  v^ell  born  or 
the  fortunate)  of  all  the  requisites  of  heahhy  life  and  worthy 
citizenship."  The  means  by  which  this  is  to  be  guaranteed  is  by 
legislation.  Much  legislation  having  this  purpose  in  view  is 
already  on  the  statute  books — such  as  the  Factory,  Mines,  Rail- 
ways, Shops,  Merchant  Shipping  and  Truck  Acts,  the  Public 
Health,  Housing  and  Education  Acts,  and  the  Minimum  Wage 
Act,  and  to  this  legislation  Labor  has  given  its  support.  These 
laws,  it  was  said,  need  considerable  improvement  and  extension 
and  especially  a  better  administration  and  Labor  promises  to 
bring  this  about.  In  this  connection  it  is  said  :  "  [A]  minimum  of 
not  less  than  30s.  per  week  (which  will  need  revision  according 
to  the  level  of  prices)  ought  to  be  the  very  lowest  statutory  base 
line  for  the  least  skilled  adult  workers,  men  or  women,  in  any 
occupation,  in  all  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom." 

In  the  matter  of  demobilization  of  the  troops  and  the  munition 
workers  the  demands  of  the  party  are  "  unhesitating  and  uncom- 
promising." There  must  be  no  discharge  or  dismissal  without 
guarantee  of  employment  and  this  employment  must  be  such  as 
accords  with  the  capacity  of  the  employe.  The  labor  to  be  first 
released  is  that  most  urgently  required  for  the  revival  of  peace 
production,  and  to  prevent  any  congestion  of  the  market.  The 
obligation  to  find  suitable  employment  in  productive  work  rests 
upon  the  government  and  must  not  be  regarded  as  a  matter  for 
private  charity. 

The  policy  of  the  Labor  Party  in  this  matter  is  to  make  the  utmost  use 
of  the  trade  unions,  and,  equally  for  the  brain  workers,  of  the  various  pro- 
fessional associations.  In  view  of  the  fact  that,  in  any  trade,  the  best  or- 
ganization for  placing  men  in  situations  is  a  national  trade  union  having 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  311 

local  branches  throughout  the  kingdom,  every  soldier  should  be  allowed, 
if  he  chooses,  to  have  a  duplicate  of  his  industrial  discharge  notice  sent, 
one  month  before  the  date  fixed  for  his  discharge,  to  the  secretary  of  the 
trade  union  to  which  he  belongs  or  wishes  to  belong. 

The  program  admits  that,  apart  from  the  trade  unions,  "  the 
government  must,  of  course,  avail  itself  of  some  such  public 
machinery  as  that  of  the  employment  exchange,"  but  it  is  insisted 
that  until  the  exchanges  are  reformed  and  placed  under  th6 
supervision  and  control  of  a  joint  committee  of  employers  and 
trade  unionists  in  equal  numbers,  they  can  not  hope  to  command 
the  support  of  the  organized  labor  movement. 

Government  responsibility,  according  to  the  program,  will  not 
end  with  securing  employment  for  the  demobilized  soldiers  and 
discharged  munition  workers.  "  The  government  has  pledged 
itself  to  restore  the  trade  union  conditions  and  'prewar  prac- 
tices '  of  the  workshop,  which  the  trade  unions  patriotically  gave 
up  at  the  direct  request  of  the  government  itself,  and  this  solemn 
pledge  must  be  fulfilled,  of  course,  in  the  spirit  as  well  as  in  the 
letter."  The  program  also  holds  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  govern- 
ment "  to  take  all  necessary  steps  to  prevent  the  standard  rates 
of  wages  in  any  trade  or  occupation,  whatsoever,  from  suffering 
any  reduction,  relatively  to  the  contemporary  cost  of  living." 
Private  employers  should  be  informed  that  an  attempt  to  lower 
wages  will  mean  industrial  strife. 

Unemployment  must  be  guarded  against. 

It  is  now  known  that  the  government  can,  if  it  chooses,  arrange  the  public 
works  and  the  orders  of  national  departments  and  local  authorities  in  such 
a  way  as  to  maintain  the  aggregate  demand  for  labor  in  the  whole  king- 
dom (including  that  of  capitalist  employers)  approximately  at  a  uniform  level 
from  year  to  year;  and  it  is  therefore  a  primary  obligation  of  the  govern- 
ment to  prevent  any  considerable  or  widespread  fluctuations  in  the  total 
numbers  employed  in  times  of  good  or  bad  trade. 

The  government,  it  is  urged,  should  prepare,  at  once,  to  carry 
out  a  scheme  of  public  works  either  directly  or  through  the  local 
authorities,  and  among  the  undertakings  which  might  well  be 
adopted  the  following  are  mentioned :  new  houses  in  cities, 
country  and  mining  districts,  schools,  training  and  technical  col- 
leges, roads,  light,  railways,  unification  and  reorganization  of 


312  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  railway  and  canal  system,  afforestation,  reclamation  of  land, 
port  and  harbor  improvements,  cooperative  small  holdings  in 
land.  It  is  also  suggested  that  in  order  to  relieve  any  pressure 
from  an  overstocked  labor  market,  the  school  leaving  age  should 
be  raised  to  sixteen,  the  number  of  scholarships  and  bursaries 
for  secondary  and  higher  education  should  be  increased,  the 
hours  of  labor  of  young  people  should  be  reduced  even  below 
eight  hours  a  week  and  the  hours  of  adult  labor  should  be 
reduced  to  not  more  than  forty-eight  per  week.  The  extension 
of  unemployment  insurance  on  the  basis  of  the  out  of  work 
benefits  provided  by  the  trade  unions  is  demanded  and  the 
resumption  of  the  government  subvention  which  was  withdrawn 
in  1915 — "one  of  the  least  excusable  of  the  war  economies" 
— is  demanded  immediately  after  the  war  ceases  and  it  should 
be  increased  to  at  least  half  the  amount  spent  in  out  of  work 
benefits. 

In  setting  forth  its  proposals  for  the  democratic  control  of 
industry,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  program  makes  no  reference 
to  the  Reconstruction  Committee's  scheme  for  industrial  councils, 
although  this  should  not  be  interpreted  as  an  evidence  of  un- 
friendliness to  that  plan.  After  stating  its  support  of  complete 
adult  suffrage,  equal  rights  for  both  sexes,  abolition  of  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  shorter  Parliaments,  the  program  stated  that  the 
Labor  party,  unlike  the  Conservative  and  Liberal  parties,  "  in- 
sists on  democracy  in  industry  as  well  as  in  government." 

It  demands  the  progressive  elimination  from  the  control  of  industry  of  the 
private  capitalist,  individtial  or  joint  stock;  and  the  setting  free  of  all  who 
work,  whether  by  hand  or  by  brain,  for  the  service  of  the  community,  and 
of  the  community  only.  And  the  Labor  party  refuses  absolutely  to  believe 
that  the  British  people  will  permanently  tolerate  any  reconstruction  or  per- 
petuation of  the  disorganization,  waste  and  inefficiency  involved  in  the 
abandonment  of  British  industry  to  a  jostling  crowd  of  separate  private  em- 
ployers, with  their  minds  bent,  not  on  the  service  of  the  community,  but — 
by  the  very  law  of  their  being — only  on  the  utmost  possible  profiteering. 
What  the  nation  needs  is  undoubtedly  a  great  bound  onward  in  its  aggre- 
gate productivity.  But  this  can  not  be  secured  merely  by  pressing  the  manual 
workers  to  more  strenuous  toil,  or  even  by  encouraging  the  "  Captains  of 
Industry "  to  a  less  wasteful  organization  of  their  several  enterprises  on  a 
profit  making  basis.  What  the  Labor  party  looks  to  is  a  genuinely  scientific 
reorganization   of   the  nation's   industry,   no   longer   deflected  by   individual 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  313 

profiteering,  on  the  basis  of  the  common  ownership  of  the  means  of  pro- 
duction ;  the  equitable  sharing  of  the  proceeds  among  all  who  participate  in 
any  capacity  and  only  among  these,  and  the  adoption,  in  particular  services 
and  occupations,  of  those  systems  and  methods  of  administration  and  con- 
trol that  may  be  found  in  practice  best  to  promote  the  public  interest. 

The  paragraph  just  quoted  seems  at  first  glance  to  l)e  a  reit- 
eration of  the  position  of  the  state  socialists,  but  a  more  careful 
study  of  the  statement,  especially  when  taken  in  connection  with 
other  parts  of  the  program,  seems  to  warrant  the  belief  that  while 
the  industrial  program  is  socialistic,  it  is  not  necessarily  state 
socialism  which  is  demanded.  Municipal  ownership  of  the  means 
of  production  of  public  enterprises  in  accordance  with  the  Fabian 
socialists'  plan  is  elsewhere  declared  to  be  in  accordance  with 
their  program.  Furthermore,  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  they 
would  not  accept  as  coming  within  their  plan,  the.  cooperative 
ownership  of  most  industrial  enterprises  by  the  workers  em- 
ployed therein.  There  is  furthermore  no  demand  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  interest  or  even  of  private  profits.  Only  profiteering  is 
condemned. 

The  party  program  does,  however,  demand  the  nationalization 
of  the  great  public  utilities,  the  railroads,  canals  and  even  the 
great  steamship  lines.  Furthermore,  it  lays  great  emphasis  on 
the  advantages  which  will  come  from  cheap  power,  light  and 
heating  when  the  coal  mines  and  the  sources  of  electric  power 
are  nationalized.  Nor  does  its  program  of  nationalization  stop 
at  these  great  industries.  Life  insurance  must  be  made  a  govern- 
ment function  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  "  profit  making 
industrial  insurance  companies,  which  now  so  tyrannously  ex- 
ploit the  people  with  their  wasteful  house  to  house  industrial 
life  assurance." 

The  Labor  party  would  promote  temperance  reform  by  taking 
the  manufacture  and  retailing  of  liquor  out  of  the  hands  of  those 
"  who  find  profit  in  promoting  the  utmost  possible  consumption." 
Having  created  a  government  liquor  monopoly  the  party  would 
grant  local  option  with  regard  to  its  sale  or  prohibition  and  the 
regulation  of  the  traffic. 

Municipal  socialism  should  extend  not  only  to  the  municipal 
public  service  industries,  such  as  water,  gas,  electricity  and  the 


314  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

tramways,  but  should  include  housing  and  town  planning,  public 
libraries,  the  organization  of  recreation,  and  the  coal  and  milk  in- 
dustries, where  these  are  not  organized  by  a  cooperative  society. 
The  program  would  have  the  experience  gained  during  the 
war  by  the  government  in  its  assumption  of  the  control  of  the 
importation  of  "  wheat,  wool,  metals  and  other  commodities  " 
and  its  control  of  the  "  shipping,  woolen,  leather,  clothing,  boot 
and  shoe,  milling,  baking,  butchering  and  other  industries  put  to 
good  use  by  keeping  these  indispensable  industries  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  monopolist  trusts.  The  centralized  purchase  of 
raw  material  and  the  public  rationing  of  this  material  to  the 
several  establishments,  the  public  accounting  and  auditing  to  stop 
waste  and  put  an  end  to  the  "mechanical  inefficiency  of  the 
more  backward  firms  "  are  advantages  which  ought  not  to  be 
surrendered.  Price  fixing  for  standardized  products  should 
continue. 

This  question  of  the  retail  prices  of  household  commodities  is  emphatically 
the  most  practical  of  all  political  issues  to  the  woman  elector.  ...  It  is,  so 
the  Labor  party  holds,  just  as  much  the  function  of  government,  and  just 
as  necessary  a  part  of  the  democratic  regulation  of  industry,  to  safeguard 
the  interests  of  the  community  as  a  whole,  and  those  of  all  grades  and  sec- 
tions of  private  consumers  in  the  matter  of  prices,  as  it  is  by  the  Factory 
and  Trade  Board  Acts  to  protect  the  rights  of  the  wage  earning  producers 
in  the  matter  of  wages,  hours  of  labor  and  sanitation. 

The  Labor  party's  financial  program  calls  for  the  "  direct  taxa- 
tion of  incomes  above  the  necessary  cost  of  family  maintenance, 
and,  for  the  requisite  effort  to  pay  off  the  national  debt,  to  the 
direct  taxation  of  private  fortunes  both  during  life  and  at  death." 
It  favors  progressive  taxation  on  a  scale  of  graduation  "  rising 
from  a  penny  in  the  pound  on  the  smallest  assessable  income  up 
to  sixteen  or  even  nineteen  shillings  in  the  pound  on  the  highest 
income  of  the  millionaires."  The  death  duties  should  be  re- 
graduated  and  greatly  increased  and  in  this  connection  it  is 
said: 

We  need,  in  fact,  completely  to  reverse  our  point  of  view,  and  to  re- 
arrange the  whole  taxation  of  inheritance  from  the  standpoint  of  askmg 
what  is  the  maximum  amount  that  any  rich  man   should  be  permitted  at 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  315 

death  to  divert,  by  his  will,  from  the  national  exchequer  which  should 
normally  be  the  heir  to  all  private  riches  in  excess  of  a  quite  moderate 
amount  by  way  of  family  provision. 

But  the  most  radical  of  all  the  financial  proposals — and  yet  it 
is  one  which  has  had  the  support  of  other  than  radicals — is  the 
demand  that  the  national  debt  be  promptly  paid  off  by  means  of 
a  special  capital  levy,  chargeable  like  the  death  duties  on  all 
property  at  "  rates  very  steeply  graduated  so  as  to  take  only  a 
small  contribution  from  the  little  people  and  a  very  much  larger 
percentage  from  the  millionaires." 

The  fourth  pillar  of  the  house  v^hich  Labor  proposes  to  erect 
is  the  appropriation  to  the  common  good  of  the  economic  sur- 
plus— "  the  riches  of  our  mines,  the  rental  value  of  the  lands 
superior  to  the  margin  of  cultivation,  the  extra  profits  of  the 
fortunate  capitalists,  even  the  material  outcome  of  scientific  dis- 
coveries " — which  has  hitherto  gone  to  individual  proprietors  and 
then  been  devoted  very  largely  to  "  senseless  luxury."  This  sur- 
plus is  to  l^e  appropriated  by  nationalization,  municipalization 
and  by  steeply  graduated  taxation,  and  is  to  be  used  for  public 
provision  for  the  sick  and  infirm,  for  the  aged  and  those  disabled 
by  accident,  for  education,  recreation,  public  improvements  of 
all  kinds,  and  for  greatly  increased  provisions  for  .scientific  in- 
vestigation and  original  research  in  every  branch  of  knowledge, 
and  for  music,  literature  and  fine  art.  It  is  this  insistence  upon 
the  importance  of  education  and  the  advancement  of  culture 
which  shows  the  effect  of  the  inclusion  of  the  "intellectuals" 
within  the  Labor  party  and  which  doubtless  accounts  in  large 
part  for  the  quality  of  its  leadership. 

Other  items  in  the  program  of  the  Labor  party  are  a  repudia- 
tion of  the  imperialism  that  .seeks  to  dominate  other  races,  local 
autonomy  for  the  various  parts  of  the  Briti.sh  Empire  and  demo- 
cratic .self-government  wherever  possible.  The  party  favors  an 
"  imperial  council  repre.senting  all  constituents  of  the  Britannic 
alliance,"  but  only  to  make  recommendations  for  the  simul- 
taneous consideration  of  the  autonomous  local  legislatures.  The 
party  objects  to  an  "  economic  war  "  and  seeks  "  no  increase  of 
territory."     It  stands  for  a  universal  league  of  nations  and  for 


316  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  settlement  of  all  international  disputes  by  an  international 
council  of  nations.  Some  of  these  political  aims  are  set  forth 
at  greater  length  in  the  IVar  Aims  of  the  British  Labour  Party, 
an  equally  notable  document  published  within  a  few  weeks  of 
the  issue  of  this  program. 

As  already  mentioned  this  draft  report  on  reconstruction 
entitled  Labour  and  the  New  Social  Order  was  referred  for  con- 
sideration to  the  June,  1918,  conference  of  the  party.  The 
Resolutions  on  Reconstruction  ^  which  were  there  adopted  differ 
widely  in  their  wording  from  the  more  stately  language  of  the 
earlier  document,  yet  there  is  much  in  common  in  the  sub- 
stance of  the  two  proposals.  The  later  platform  is  more  specific 
in  regard  to  many  points  and  less  so  in  regard  to  others.  It  is 
less  radical  in  its  financial  program.  There  is  no  demand  for  a 
levy  on  capital  and  no  insistence  that  the  national  debt  shall  be 
paid  oflf.  The  demands  for  graduated  taxation  are  not  so 
extreme  and  little  is  said  about  the  distribution  of  the  social 
surplus.  On  the  other  hand,  more  is  said  about  political  and 
constitutional  reforms,  including  home  rule  for  Ireland,  and 
especial  attention  is  given  to  the  political  and  economic  eman- 
cipation of  women.  As  one  might  naturally  expect  the  demands 
for  the  promotion  of  scientific  investigation  and  for  the  appli- 
cation of  scientific  methods  to  the  solution  of  social  and  economic 
problems,  which  in  the  earlier  program  made  so  strong  an  appeal 
to  the  "  intellectuals,"  found  little  expression  in  a  document 
written  mainly  by  trade  unionists. 

What  chance  for  adoption  in  the  near  future  these  various 
proposals  of  the  British  Labor  party  have  calls  for  a  power  of 
political  prophecy  which  is  not  claimed  by  the  present  writer. 
It  seems  to  be  generally  admitted  that  if  a  general  election  comes 
in  the  near  future  before  the  war  ends,  the  Labor  party  is  not 
likely  to  receive  a  plurality  of  the  votes  cast.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  party  has  undoubtedly  gained  rapidly  in  strength  and  if  the 
Coalition  finds  itself  continued  as  the  party  in  charge  of  the  gov- 
ernment, it  may  well  be  that  the  Liberal  element  will  be  willing  to 
accede  to  important  Labor  demands  in  return  for  support  of  the 

^  These  resolutions  are  given  in  The  Survey,  August  3,  1918,  pp.  500-504. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  317 

governmjent  program.  Nor  do  the  demands  made  by  the  Labor 
party  seem  so  radical  as  they  would  have  seemed  to  a  nation  which 
has  not  found  itself  compelled  to  accept  a  degree  of  socialistic 
control  which  would  have  seemed  to  most  people  unthinkable 
before  the  war.  To  the  extent  to  which  governmental  regulation 
has  succeeded,  there  will  be  a  disposition  to  continue  it.  The 
movement  for  the  betterment  of  the  living  conditions  of  the 
masses  of  the  people,  which  had  made  such  a  good  beginning  in 
Great  Britain  in  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  war,  has 
certainly  not  been  weakened  by  what  has  taken  place  during  the 
progress  of  the  war. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Adult  Education 

The  program  of  the  British  Labor  party  is  not  the  only 
document  which  has  been  issued  which  calls  attention  to  the  need 
of  industrial  and  social  reforms  in  Great  Britain  in  order  that 
the  mass  of  the  people  may  share  in  the  opportunities  for  a 
well  rounded  life  which  industrial  progress  and  the  widening  of 
intellectual  interests  have  presented.  The  Adult  Education  Com- 
mittee (under  the  chairmanship  of  the  Master  of  Baliol),  Min- 
istry of  Reconstruction,  has  made  an  interesting  report  entitled 
Industrial  and  Social  Conditions  in  Relation  to  Adult  Education, 
which  deserves  consideration  in  any  discussion  of  reconstruction. 

The  committee  found  that  it  was  impossible  to  consider  adult 
education  apart  from  the  social  and  industrial  conditions  which 
determine  largely  the  educational  opportunities  as  well  as  the 
interests  and  general  outlook  of  men  and  women.  The  com- 
mittee is  convinced  that  there  is  a  wide  demand  among  adults  for 
an  education  which  is  of  a  nonvocational  character  and  it  be- 
lieves that  it  is  not  only  the  wish  for  fuller  personal  development, 
but  primarily  the  social  purpose  which  inspires  this  desire  for 
education.  The  grave  problems  with  which  the  country  wmU  be 
confronted  at  the  close  of  the  war  and  the  complexity  of  the 
social  organization  make  it  imperative  that  this  demand  for 
education  be  met. 

The  greatest  obstacle  to  meeting  it  the  committee  finds  to  be 


318  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

the  long  hours  of  work.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that  the  com- 
mittee favors  a  working  day  of  eight  hours  or  less  even  though 
experience  should  not  prove  that  this  shorter  working  period  is 
the  one  most  productive  from  the  employer's  standpoint.  "If 
the  desire  for  maximum  output  can  not  be  realized  without  rob- 
bing the  human  being  of  his  opportunities  for  full  participation 
in  the  organized  life  of  society  and  its  educational  facilities,  they 
(the  committee)  would  unhesitatingly  give  preference  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  claims  of  the  human  being."  But  if  shorter 
hours  of  work  are  to  be  looked  at  from  this  standpoint,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  situation  is  not  improved  by  the  practice  of 
overtime  employment  of  which  the  committee,  accordingly,  dis- 
approves. It  also  is  opposed  to  night  work,  which  is  not  only 
detrimental  to  the  worker,  but  disrupts  ordinary  household 
arrangements  and  prevents  the  use  of  leisure  time  for  the  women 
as  well  as  for  the  men. 

As  to  how  far  monotonous  work  is  a  detriment  to  adult  educa- 
tion, the  committee  feels  uncertain.  There  are  some  who  argue 
that  work  which  requires  no  intellectual  application  leaves  the 
mind  of  the  worker  free  for  reflection  on  subjects  which  interest 
him,  while  others  contend  that  monotonous  work  dulls  the  mind 
and  destroys  initiative  and  intellectual  interests.  The  committee 
concludes  that  monotonous  work  is  probably  bad  for  young 
workers,  but  that  work  people  who  already  possess  wide  interests 
may  not  be  greatly  harmed  by  monotonous  work  if  the  hours  of 
labor  be  not  excessive.  For  heavy  work,  the  hours  of  labor 
should  be  shortened  to  much  less  than  eight  and  mechanical 
devices  should  be  employed  wherever  possible. 

Unemployment,  the  committee  says,  results  in  physical  and 
mental  deterioration  and  it,  therefore,  believes  the  worker  should 
be  guaranteed  some  reasonable  security  of  livelihood,  either  by 
such  a  reorganization  of  industry  as  will  prevent  fluctuations  in 
employment  or,  where  this  is  impossible,  by  insurance. 

The  committee  lays  much  stress  on  the  importance  of  holidays. 

If  a  reasonable  holiday  without  stoppage  of  pay  were  provided,  it  would 
have  a  beneficial  eflFect  upon  the  national  life.  Not  only  would  those  who 
had  definite  intellectual  interests  be  able  in  much  larger  numbers  than  at 


INDUSTRIAL   RECONSTRUCTION  319 

present  to  pursue  them  at  summer  schools,  vacation  courses,  etc.,  but  others 
would  be  provided  with  increased  opportunities  for  travel  and  the  pursuit  of 
those  things  which  make  for  enlargement  of  the  mind,  while  the  gain  to  the 
public  health  would  certainly  be  considerable. 

Attention  is  also  called  to  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the 
housing  of  the  working  classes.  This  is  a  matter  which  is  closely 
related  to  the  subject  of  the  committee's  consideration  because  as 
the  committee  says:  "Housing  is  admitted  to  be  essentially  a 
woman's  question,  and  the  extent  to  which  women  will  be  able 
to  play  their  part  in  public  affairs  is  recognized  [as  dependent] 
in  no  small  measure  on  an  adequate  scheme  of  housing  reform." 
And  in  this  connection,  it  is  remarked  that  the  scarcity  of 
domestic  servants  will  make  it  important  that  houses  be  designed 
with  a  view  to  convenience  and  fitted  with  labor  saving  devices, 
if  women  are  to  have  sufficient  freedom  from  domestic  duties  to 
share  in  intellectual  opportunities. 

The  committee  says  that  in  making  its  report,  it  has  ap- 
proached the  matters  dealt  with  from  "  the  human  rather  than 
the  economic  point  of  view,"  although  it  does  not  understand 
that  there  is  any  antagonism  between  the  two.  "  Material  prog- 
ress is  of  value  only  in  so  far  as  it  assists  towards  the  realization 
of  human  possibilities."  ^ 

Government  Plans  for  Demobilization 

In  regard  to  one  matter  whose  urgency  was  emphasized  by  the 
Labor  party  program,  important  steps  have  already  been  taken 
by  the  government.  This  is  the  formulation  of  plans  for  the  de- 
mobilization of  the  military  and  naval  forces  and  of  the  munition 
workers.  Early  in  the  present  year  (1918)  the  Minister  of  Labor 
established  a  committee  to  be  known  as  the  Labor  Resettlement 
Committee,  made  up  of  employers  and  trade  unionists  in  equal 
numl^ers,  and  on  March  12.  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  committee, 
the  Minister  set  forth  the  work  which  he  expected  this  committee 
to  perform.     He  told  them  that  he  desired  from  them  not  only 

1  Industrial  and  social  conditions.  Abstract  of  the  report  by  the  Adult 
Education  Committee  of  the  Ministry  of  Reconstruction  in  the  Labour 
Gazette,  1918,  pp.  347-348. 


820  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

advice  in  regard  to  the  plans  to  be  adopted  but  assistance  with 
the  administrative  work  which  his  department  would  have  to 
carry/  The  Minister  called  attention  to  the  two  sets  of 
questions  with  which  the  committee  would  have  to  deal :  first, 
the  resettlement  of  sailors  and  soldiers  to  civil  life,  and  secondly 
the  resettlement  of  those  who  had  been  engaged  in  war  indus- 
tries. He  said  that  in  regard  to  the  first  class  a  subcommittee 
of  the  Reconstruction  Committee  had  examined  the  matter  with 
great  care  and  he  asked  that  this  report  be  given  careful  con- 
sideration. Another  committee  appointed  by  the  Ministry  of 
Reconstruction  was  considering  the  case  of  the  civil  workers, 
which  the  Minister  regarded  as  a  more  difficult  question  even 
than  that  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors. 

Among  the  subjects  with  which  the  committee  would  have  to 
deal,  the  Minister  said,  would  be  the  arrangements  for  providing 
out  of  work  pay  for  ex-service  men  and  others  who  were  unem- 
ployed. As  regards  ex-service  men,  the  government  had  already 
proposed  to  give  a  month's  furlough  with  full  pay  and  allowance, 
to  be  followed  by  a  free  policy  of  insurance  against  unemploy- 
ment, valid  for  a  year.  The  amount  of  the  benefits  had  not  yet 
been  determined,  but  it  was  proposed  that  it  should  be  possible 
to  draw  benefits  up  to  a  total  of  twenty  weeks  in  the  year. 
The  majority  of  the  civil  war  workers,  he  said,  were  already 
insured  against  unemployment,  but  the  rate  of  benefit  (7s.  a 
week)  would  have  to  be  increased.  Another  question  for  con- 
sideration was  the  machinery  to  be  used  in  carrying  out  de- 
mobilization and  securing  employment.  The  government,  he  said, 
had  decided  that  the  employment  exchanges  would  have  to  be 
used  for  they  constituted  the  only  national  organization  capable 
of  coping  with  the  problem.  The  services  of  other  agencies 
would  have  to  be  called  on  to  assist  them,  especially  local  com- 
mittees of  employers  and  employes.  Arrangements  had  already 
been  made  for  these  local  advisory  committees  and  some  of  the 
committees  were  already  at  work.  The  Minister  hoped  that 
through  the  cooperation  of  these  committees,  the  exchanges 
would  ascertain  the  demand  for  labor  in  their  respective  dis- 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1918,  pp.  92-93. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  321 

tricts  and  secure  the  cooperation  of  the  local  trade  unions  in 
meeting  it. 

The  Minister  further  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  for 
resettlement  to  succeed,  the  prosperity  of  the  industries  must  be 
assured  and  there  was  a  need  to  classify  the  various  trades  of 
the  country  according  to  their  national  importance  and  the  im- 
mediate prospects  of  employment  which  they  offered.  This  re- 
quired information  concerning  raw  materials,  financial  facilities 
and  employment  in  all  the  principal  industries.  There  were 
questions  concerning  the  reinstatement  of  soldiers,  sailors  and 
munition  workers  in  the  industries  from  which  they  had  gone, 
the  question  of  apprenticeship  and  the  training  of  disabled  men. 
The  Minister  expressed  the  hope  that  very  substantial  assistance 
in  solving  these  problems  would  come  from  the  joint  industrial 
councils  which  were  being  set  up  in  various  industries. 

A  committee  of  the  Board  of  Trade  had  early  in  1916  made 
a  report  on  the  settlement  of  discharged  soldiers  and  sailors  on 
the  land  in  England  and  Wales,  at  which  they  had  arrived  at 
the  conclusion  that  there  would  be  a  considerable  demand  for 
ex-service  men  in  agriculture  at  the  close  of  the  war,  not  only  to 
take  the  place  of  those  who  had  been  killed  and  permanently 
disabled  but  to  produce  the  larger  amount  of  food  which  it  is 
generally  estimated  the  nation  is  likely  to  wish  to  produce  rather 
than  to  depend  to  such  a  large  extent  as  in  the  past  on  foreign 
sources  of  supply.  The  two  obstacles  which  the  committee  found 
in  the  way  of  attracting  soldiers  and  sailors  to  the  land  were  the 
low  wages  and  the  lack  of  suitable  housing  facilities.^  The  first 
of  these  obstacles  seems  likely  to  be  removed  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  agricultural  wages  boards;  the  second  is  receiving 
the  attention  of  the  Committee  on  Housing  of  the  Ministry  of 
Reconstruction. 

In  his  address  to  the  newly  formed  Resettlement  Committee 
the  Minister  of  Labor  referred  to  two  investigations  which  had 
already  been  made,  one  by  the  subcommittee  of  the  Reconstruc- 
tion Committee  into  the  matter  of  the  resettlement  of  sailors 
and  soldiers  to  civil  life  and  the  other  with  regard  to  the 
1  Labour  Gazette,  1916,  pp.  238-239. 


322  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

munition  workers.  The  reports  of  the  work  of  the  first  named 
committee  have  not  been  received  in  this  country,  but  the  "  first 
(interim)  report  of  the  Civil  War  Workers'  Committee"  has 
been  summarized  in  the  Labour  Gazette}  The  recommendations 
of  the  committee,  briefly  stated,  are  as  follows  :  (a)  The  govern- 
ment should  lend  its  assistance  to  assist  munition  and  other 
workers  discharged  on  the  termination  of  hostilities  to  return  to 
their  former  occupations,  (b)  The  machinery  used  for  demobili- 
zation and  subsequent  reemployment  should  be  the  employment 
exchanges  working  with  the  Labor  Resettlement  Committee  and 
the  local  advisory  committees  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  (c) 
The  advice  of  industries  as  a  whole  should  be  sought  through 
the  joint  industrial  councils  where  they  exist  and  in  other  cases 
through  the  temporary  trade  committees  being  set  up  by  the 
Ministry  of  Reconstruction,  the  Board  of  Trade  and  the  Min- 
istry of  Labor,  acting  jointly,  (d)  "As  soon  as  there  is  a 
reasonable  prospect  of  peace,  the  local  advisory  committees  and 
the  employment  exchanges  should  take  steps  to  ascertain  where 
workers  are  likely  to  be  required  immediately  on  the  termination 
of  the  war  and  what  the  demands  of  individual  factories  are  likely 
to  be."  (e)  "  The  registration  of  individual  war  workers  should 
be  undertaken  with  a  view  to  facilitating  their  return  to  their 
former  employment  or  finding  fresh  employment  for  them." 
This  scheme  should  be  under  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  cooperating 
with  the  trade  unions,  (f)  On  government  contract  work,  muni- 
tion workers  should  receive  a  fortnight's  notice  or  a  fortnight's 
pay  in  lieu  of  notice,  (g)  The  departments  concerned  should 
encourage  government  departments,  public  or  semi-public  bodies 
and  private  employers  to  place  postwar  contracts  in  advance,  the 
contracts  being  arranged,  if  need  be,  at  provisional  prices,  to 
be  adjusted  later  according  to  revised  estimates  of  the  cost  of 
labor,  materials,  etc.  The  same  steps  should  be  taken  by  the 
department  of  overseas  trade,  (h)  The  government,  before  the 
end  of  the  war,  should  have  ready  further  schemes  to  meet  the 
possibility  of  any  local  or  general  unemployment  which  may 
prove  to  be  more  than  temporary. 
1 "  Demobilization  of  Civil  War  Workers,"  1918,  p.  307. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  323 

The  statement  is  made  by  the  Minister  of  Reconstruction  that 
action  is  being  taken  in  connection  with  some  of  these  matters. 
Others  will  have  to  be  considered  by  the  government  in  relation 
to  other  allied  questions  of  reconstruction. 

The  Ministry  of  Reconstruction  has  made  public  the  report 
of  the  committee  appointed  to  consider  the  resettlement  of  of- 
ficers. In  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  this  com- 
mittee, the  Ministry  of  Labor  has  established  an  Appointments 
Department  intended  "  to  provide  advice  and  assistance  to  of- 
ficers and  others  requiring  professional  and  business  appoint- 
ments on  their  return  to  civil  life.  Two  committees  of  this 
department  have  been  provided,  one  dealing  with  appointments 
and  the  other  with  training.  On  the  Appointment  Committee 
will  be  representatives  of  the  principal  professional  and  business 
organizations.  Local  committees  similarly  constituted  will  be 
provided.  The  Training  Committee  will  be  an  interdepartmental 
committee  jointly  appointed  by  the  Ministry  of  Labor,  the  Board 
of  Education  and  other  departments,  and  the  chairmati  will  be 
nominated  by  the  Board  of  Education.  The  universities  and 
other  educational  organizations  and  representatives  of  commerce 
and  industry  will  be  asked  to  cooperate.  "  It  has  been  arranged 
that  every  officer  shall  be  provided  with  information  as  to  the 
facilities  for  obtaining  appointments  by  the  department,  which 
will  therefore  be  in  a  position  to  bring  to  the  notice  of  employers, 
who  may  have  vacancies  to  fill,  particulars  of  candidates  from 
every  part  of  the  kingdom."  Those  candidates  who  have  not  the 
necessary  training  will  be  furnished  with  facilities  for  obtaining 
this  by  the  Training  Committee.  No  fees  are  charged  either  to 
employers  or  to  candidates  for  the  work  of  securing  positions.^ 
This,  of  course,  does  not  apply  to  the  work  of  training,  which 
is  to  be  done  by  existing  schools  and  other  agencies. 

Labor  Readjustments  in  the  Principal  Industries 

Besides  the  work  being  done  by  the  departments  and  com- 
mittees already  mentioned,  brief  mention  should  be  made  of  the 

1  Labour  Gazette,  1918,  p.  175. 


324  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND   LEGISLATION 

inquiries  conducted  by  the  departmental  committees  appointed  by 
the  Board  of  Trade  during  the  year  19 IG  to  consider  the  posi- 
tion of  various  industries  after  the  war,  particularly  with  ref- 
erence to  conditions  which  might  exist  to  hamper  the  success  of 
the  industry  in  question  when  peace  had  been  restored,  and  to 
suggest  remedies,  if  any,  for  such  conditions.  These  committees 
made  their  report  in  1918.^ 

The  committee  on  the  textile  trades  reported  that  British  labor 
was  peculiarly  efficient  in  these  industries,  that  the  output  per 
person  was  probably  higher  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world, 
except  perhaps  the  United  States,  that  there  was  little  restriction 
of  output  "  of  an  habitual  or  organized  kind,  owing  largely  to 
the  fact  that  piece  work  is  almost  universal."  The  committee 
found  evidence  of  interference  by  means  of  trade  union,  and 
shop  rules  with  maximum  output  in  the  subsidiary  processes  of 
the  textile  trades.  To  do  away  with  these  restrictions  the  com- 
mittee urged  that  the  government  as  well  as  associations  of  em- 
ployers and  employed  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  complete  under- 
standing between  labor  and  capital  "  on  the  basis  of  mutual  in- 
terest, confidence  and  good  feeling." 

In  the  iron  and  steel  trades  the  committee  found  labor  relations 
to  be  on  a  better  footing  in  those  industries  in  which  both  sides 
are  organized  to  carry  on  collective  bargaining,  but  such  organi- 
zation is  far  from  complete.  A  multiplicity  of  unions  has  created 
confusion  and  the  committee  favors  bringing  all  labor  under  the 
authority  of  a  single  trade  union  and  that  in  the  trade  agreements 
unskilled  labor  be  provided  for.  Piece  and  tonnage  rates  are 
favored,  for  they  tend  to  interest  the  worker  in  his  work  and 
also  lessen  the  danger  of  restriction  of  output.  The  committee 
favors  the  eight  hour  day  in  works  running  continuously 
throughout  the  week. 

In  the  engineering  trades  employers  were  nearly  unanimous 
in  their  complaints  that  the  trade  union  rules  resulted  in  a 
restriction  of  output  below  that  which  represents  a  reasonable 
day's  work  and  that  they  compelled  employers  to  class  as  skilled 

1  Summaries  of  their  reports  are  found  in  the  Labour  Gazette  for  August, 
1918,  pp.  306-307. 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  325 

work  that  which  in  fact  was  unskilled.  The  committee  believed 
that  both  allegations  were  well  founded.  The  committee  favored 
the  establishment  of  piece  rates  or  a  bonus  system  on  time  rates. 
It  considered  that  "  in  the  future  it  will  be  all  important  that 
output  should  be  encouraged  to  its  ma.ximum,"  but  that  the 
laborers  must  be  convinced  that  to  do  this  will  not  result  in 
the  cutting  down  of  their  best  earnings.  The  committee  felt  that 
when  peace  returns  it  must  be  recognized  that  much  work  hither- 
to regarded  as  skilled  must  be  considered  to  be  wMthin  the  scope 
of  unskilled  men  and  women  and  that  where  female  labor  can 
be  suitably  utilized  no  trade  union  rules  should  hamper  its  em- 
ployment.   Automatic  and  other  machinery  must  be  freely  used. 

In  the  electrical  trades  the  committee  found  a  need  of  a  better 
understanding  between  employers  and  employed,  to  put  an  end  to 
arbitrary  restrictions  of  output  and  to  the  use  of  labor  saving 
machinery.  There  are  also  needed  improved  working  conditions 
in  factories  and  better  housing.  In  the  shipping  and  shipbuilding 
industries  the  committee  said  little  about  labor  conditions,  but 
concurred  with  witnesses  "  that  foreign  competition  after  the 
war  can  not  be  regarded  with  equanimity,  unless  employers  and 
employed  cooperate  efficiently  in  producing  the  maximum  output 
at  a  reasonable  price." 

In  the  coal  mining  industry  statistics  of  output  showed  that 
"  since  1906  there  has  been  a  decline  in  the  yearly  output  per 
person  employed  at  the  mines."  The  committee  considered  this 
a  very  serious  matter  and  as  affecting  the  country's  competitive 
power  in  many  directions.  It  thought  that  any  policy  involving 
restriction  of  output  should  be  abandoned  and  that  the  worker 
"  should  have  security  that  if  he  increases  his  output  he  shall 
not  suffer  for  it  by  any  arbitrary  treatment  of  wage  rates."  As 
a  step  towards  securing  fuller  cooperation  between  employers 
and  employes  the  committee  favored  the  establishment  by  mutual 
consent  in  every  mining  district  of  joint  disputes  committees  of 
employers  and  employes,  to  whom  should  be  referred  all  dif- 
ferences which  the  parties  at  the  individual  collieries  could  not 
settle  between  themselves. 

It  would  be  folly  to  attempt  to  predict  to  what  extent  the  pro- 


326  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

posals  for  reform  in  labor  and  working  conditions  which  have 
been  briefly  surveyed  in  this  chapter  will  be  adopted  in  the  years 
following  the  war  and,  if  adopted,  to  what  degree  they  will  be 
successful.  No  doubt  here,  as  in  so  many  other  fields  of  human 
endeavor,  compromise  will  be  the  rule.  It  is  enough  to  know 
that  discussion  has  begun  and  is  taking  place  on  the  basis  of  an 
understanding  by  all  parties  that  the  prewar  conditions  in  in- 
dustry (reference  is  not  here  to  the  agreement  to  restore  trade 
union  customs)  can  never,  and  should  never,  be  restored.  That 
the  industrial  society  of  the  future  will  be  established  on  the 
basis  of  a  larger  participation  by  the  laboring  classes  in  the 
management  and  development  of  industrial  enterprises  and  of 
better  living  and  working  conditions  than  have  hitherto  pre- 
vailed seems  a  safe  prediction.  That  on  the  part  of  labor  there 
must  be  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  any  permanent  reforms  in 
this  direction  mean  that  high  wages  and  good  working  condi- 
tions are  dependent  on  large  output  and  an  economical  use  of 
materials  and  machinery  is  a  proposition  which  requires  no 
demonstration. 

There  is  one  labor  problem  connected  with  reconstruction  in 
Great  Britain  which  has  caused  much  speculation,  but  concerning 
which  there  is,  for  obvious  reasons,  little  accurate  information — 
that  is  the  problem  of  the  future  of  women  in  industry.  Our 
review  of  the  effects  of  the  war  in  causing  increased  employment 
of  women  has  shown  that  up  to  January,  1918,  the  war  had  caused 
an  addition  of  1,446,000  women  in  remunerative  occupations, 
outside  domestic  service  and  small  retail  establishments.  How 
many  of  these  women  will  remain  in  industry  at  the  close  of  the 
war?  How  far  will  their  remaining  make  difficult  the  return  of 
men  into  gainful  occupations? 

As  no  satisfactory  answer  can  be  given  to  either  question  at 
this  time,  all  that  we  shall  attempt  to  do  is  to  call  attention  to 
certain  phases  of  the  problem  which  m^y  serve  to  indicate  the 
way  to,  at  least,  a  partial  solution.  (1)  Many  of  the  women  now 
engaged  in  industry  will  voluntarily  leave  it  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  Marriage,  or  at  least  the  establishment  of  a  home,  has  been 
postponed  in  many  cases  until  the  end  of  the  war  and  will  not 


INDUSTRIAL    RECONSTRUCTION  327 

long  be  postponed  after  the  war  is  over  and  the  soldier  has 
returned  to  industry.  Those  women  (probably  not  many  in 
number)  who  have  entered  industry  not  from  necessity  but 
purely  from  patriotic  reasons  and  have  continued  therein  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  will  also,  in  most  cases,  forsake  their 
present  occupations.  (2)  Many  women,  especially  among  the 
munition  workers,  who  had  been  employed  in  peace  time  indus- 
tries but  who,  during  the  war,  transferred  to  war  time  industries, 
will  return  to  their  old  occupations  as  soon  as  the  change  in 
industrial  demand  makes  this  possible.  (3)  Some  women  who 
were  formerly  employed  in  domestic  service  or  in  small  retail 
establishments  or  who  were  engaged  in  remunerative  work  in 
their  homes  will  return  to  these  occupations.  The  number  who 
do  so  will  depend  not  only  on  their  own  inclinations  but  also  on 
the  extent  to  which  the  war  has  left  the  wealthy  and  the  middle 
classes  capable  of  maintaining  domestic  establishments  with  hired 
servants  to  perform  the  work.  (4)  Where  women  have  found 
employment  in  financial,  commercial  and  professional  occupa- 
tions suited  to  their  strength  and  capacity,  they  will  be  retained 
in  most  instances,  if  they  desire  to  remain.  No  agreement  with 
the  trade  unions  stands  in  the  way  of  their  retention  and  prob- 
ably, in  most  instances,  employers  have  discovered  that  women 
can  be  secured  at  lower  rates  of  pay  than  would  be  demanded  by 
men  for  similar  work.  (5)  In  industrial  establishments  where 
employers  have  not  entered  into  an  understanding  with  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  trade  unions  to  restore  the  prewar  conditions, 
including  the  reemployment  of  the  former  employes,  and  women 
have  been  employed  on  work  suited  to  their  strength  and 
capacity,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  such  women  will  not 
be  retained,  in  most  instances,  unless  the  men  in  the  plants  are 
strongly  organized  and  make  the  matter  of  reengaging  the 
former  employes  in  their  old  positions  an  issue.  (6)  While  in 
certain  establishments,  especially  those  engaged  in  engineering 
work,  the  understanding  with  the  trade  unions  exists  and  will  be 
kept,  if  necessary,  by  the  insistence  of  the  government,  yet  it 
must  be  remembered  that  new  work  will  be  undertaken  and  new 
machinery  has  been  introduced  which  can  be  utilized  to  perform 


328  BRITISH    LABOR    CONDITIONS    AND    LEGISLATION 

this  work.  Genuine  differences  of  opinion  will  naturally  arise 
as  to  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  agreement  to  restore  pre- 
war conditions.  It  is  inconceivable  that  some  of  these  differences 
will  not  be  resolved  in  favor  of  the  employer  and  of  the  retention 
of  the  women  who  have  been  employed  to  operate  the  new 
machines.  (7)  Finally,  it  must  be  remembered  that  many  of  the 
men  formerly  employed  will  never  return  to  industry.  They 
have  giyen  their  lives  on  the  battlefield  or  are  physically  in- 
capacitated for  their  former  work.  There  must  also  be  added 
to  this  list  those  who  will  desire  to  migrate  to  the  colonies  or 
to  other  countries  or  to  engage  in  new  enterprises. 

While  the  above  categories  do  not  dispose  of  all  the  women 
who  have  been  called  into  gainful  pursuits  during  the  war,  it 
is  impossible  to  measure  quantitatively  the  problem  which  the 
country  will  have  to  meet  of  reincorporating  into  industry  the 
returned  soldiers  and  sailors  and  of  caring,  at  the  same  time, 
for  the  women  who  desire  to  retain  their  present  positions  or 
others  equally  remunerative.  Much  will  depend  upon  the  women 
themselves,  the  opposition  which  they  will  make  to  their  being 
replaced,  their  organization  into  trade  unions  and  their  use  of 
their  new  political  power — the  suffrage.  To  some  extent,  it  will 
also  depend  on  the  attitude  of  the  men's  unions,  their  willingness 
to  accept  women  as  members  and  to  make  the  women's  cause 
their  own. 


INDEX 


Addison,  Christopher,   294 

Adult  Education  Committee — see  Educa- 
tion, Committee  on  Adult 

Agriculture:  Workmen's  Compensation  Act 
extended  to,  10;  wages,  25,  188;  wage 
boards,  196;  low  wages  a  cause  of  in- 
dustrial unrest,  263;  minimum  wage  pro- 
posed, 14;  established,  266;  women  in, 
166.   168 

Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers:  Clyde 
strike  in  1915.  65-67.  74;  in  1916.  235- 
236;  supplemental  agreement  to  Treas- 
ury Conference,  91 ;  agreement  with 
government  as  to  exemptions.  129;  agree- 
ment withdrawn.  238,  255;  dilution  of 
labor  on  private  work.  238.  239 

Amalgamated  Society  of  Railway  Servants, 
9 

Arbitration:  compulsory.  76,  85,  230;  arbi- 
tration tribunal  for  women  workers,  100, 
189.  190.  191,  193;  powers  of  Board  of 
Trade,  109;  awards  not  subject  to  ap- 
peal, 110;  Arbitration  Act.  1889,  111; 
provisions  of  ^lunitions  Act,  111;  set- 
tlement of  wages,  199;  Whitley  report 
on.  302-303 

Army  reserve  munitions  workers,  105,  126, 
130 

Ask  with.  Sir  George,  65 

Atkin,  Sir   Richard,  89 

Aves,  Ernest,  13 

Balfour,  Arthur  James,  4,  9 

Barnes,  G.  N.,  205,  244,  245,  264,  265, 
283 

Barrow,   Eng.,  housing  conditions,   258-259 

Belgian  refugees,  government  efforts  to 
furnish  work  for,  44-48 

Beveridge,  W.  H.,  97 

Billeting  of  Civilians  Act.   1917,  224 

Board  of  Trade — see  Trade,  Board  of 

Bonus — see  Wages 

Booth.  Charles,  4,  240 

British  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science:  report  on  industrial  unrest, 
240-243;  reconstruction  program,  271; 
membership  of  Reconstruction  Commit- 
tee. 272;  recommendations  to  alleviate 
industrial  unrest.  273-276;  cooperation 
between  employers  and  employed,  274- 
275;   organization  recommended,  276 

British   Labor  party — see  Labor  party 

Central  Labor  Supply  Committee,   181 

Central  Munitions  Labor  Supply  Commit- 
tee, 142,  192 

Chamberlain.    Austen,    3 

Chamberlain.    Neville.    130 

Chapman,  Sidney,  240.  243 

Churchill,  Winston.  l.*i,  148 

Civil  War  Workers'  Committee:  recom- 
mendations for  employment  of  demobi- 
lized munitions  workers,  322 


Clerical  and  Commercial  Employment  Com- 
mittee.  147 

Clyde  strike:  in  1915,  65-67,  74;  in  1916. 
235-236 

Clyde  Workers  Committee,  235-236 

Coal  mining  industry,  labor  readjustment. 
325 

Cole,  G.  p.  H.,  32,  78.  79 

Compensation — see  Seamen's  compensation; 
Workmen's  compensation 

Conciliation  and  arbitration,  Whitley  re- 
port on,  .302-303 

Conscription,  industrial:  not  provided  for, 
94,  96:  volunteer  plan  as  alternative.  96, 
126;  objection  to,  124;  a  reality,  138- 
139 

Conscription,    military,    128 

Controlled  establishments:  90-94;  restric- 
tions on  employment,  88;  profits  to  be 
limited,  91 ;  wages,  88,  91,  92,  100.  188, 
189,  191-195;  effect  of  munitions 
amendment,  1917,  92;  provisions  of  act, 
100;  under  regulations  of  Minister  of 
Munitions,  93;  number  in  1917,  9.3-94; 
percentage  of  women  in,  93;  Sunday 
labor  discontinued.  123;  rules  of  dilu- 
tion, 182-183_;  records  of  changes  from 
prewar  conditions,  183:  hours  of  labor, 
213;  holidays,  215;  welfare  work,  216, 
217 

Corn  Production  Act.   1917.   196 

Cost  of  living:  changes  in.  24-25;  percen- 
tage increase,  25;  rents,  25,  202,  204; 
savings  deposits,  26;  reentry  of  women 
in  industry,  71.  72;  relation  of  wages 
to,  64,  194,  200-202;  report  of  com- 
mittee investigating.  20.3-204 ;  steps 
taken   by    Food    Ministry.    204-205 

Cunningham,  Archdeacon,  240 

Defense  of  the  Realm  Consolidation  Act: 
amendment,  74-75;  powers  under,  76, 
221-222;  orders  under.  207.  215;  De- 
fense of  the  Realm  Regulations,  120, 
131 

Demobilization:  government  plans,  319- 
323;  recommendations  of  Civil  War 
Workers  Committee,  322;  resettlement 
of  officers,   323 

Dilution  of  labor:  140-184;  substitution  of 
women  for  men.  54.  72,  140,  144-158, 
159,  160-168,  178-180,  192,  190.  197; 
substitutes  for  skilled  labor.  73-74,  96- 
97,  129.  130.  139,  140.  156,  157,  158, 
192,  193,  198;  scarcity  of  male  sub- 
stitutes, 143-144;  substitutes  in  clerical 
and  commercial  occupations,  147,  148, 
150;  trade  union  restrictions  on,  92, 
140;  opposition  of  trades  unions,  96, 
141-142,  163.  1801S1;  recommenda- 
tions of  Munitions  Labor  Supply  Com- 
mittee, 97;  Treasury  agreement.  96-97. 
140,   141;   dilution   necessary,   126;   gov- 


329 


330 


INDEX 


ernment  assists  in.  142-143;  urges  fur- 
ther dilution,  158-160;  female  labor 
available  early  in  war,  144-147;  indus- 
trial training  for  women,  154-155;  by 
agreement  with  unions,  163;  statistics  of 
extension  of  employment  of  women,  168- 
171;  table,  169;  sources  of  supply, 
women  workers,  171-175;  mobility  of 
women's  labor,  175-178;  records  of  de- 
partures from  prewar  practices,  181-184; 
rules  for  controlled  establishments,  182- 
183;  extension  to  private  work  opposed 
by  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers, 
238,  239;  a  cause  of  industrial  unrest, 
250-251 

Disputes — see  Trades  disputes 

Distress  committees:  work  of,  27,  225;  ap- 
pointment of  special  committee,  42;  re- 
port, 42-43;  care  of  Belgian  refugees, 
44-48 

Drink  problem — see  Liquor  problem 

Economist,   The.   291 

Education,  Committee  on  Adult:  report, 
317-319 

Electrical    trades,    labor   readjustment,    325 

Elswick  works  dispute,  70 

Emergency  grants,   49-52;  table,  51 

Emigration  in  relation  to  employment,  57- 
58 

Employers'  associations,  29 

Employers'  liability,   10 

Employment:  irregular,  cause  of  pauper- 
ism, 7;  in  textile  trades,  23;  Central 
Committee  on  Women's  Employment,  43; 
not  to  be  given  Belgian  refugees  of 
military  age,  45;  situation  first  year  of 
war,  54;  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors, 
55-57,  227-229;  committee  on  methods 
appointed,  56;  report,  56-57;  effect  of 
Workmen's  Compensation  Act,  57;  res- 
toration of  prewar  conditions,  78,  87, 
92,  93,  94.  97,  183,  253.  311;  of 
women,  98-100,  111;  percentage,  146; 
extension  of  employment  during  war, 
table,  169;  unskilled  labor,  98-100; 
leaving  certificates,  102,  103,  104,  105, 
249,  250;  Labor  Party  program,  de- 
mobilized soldiers  and  munitions  work- 
ers, 310-311,  322;  German  prisoners 
with  British  workmen,  262.  See  also 
Unemployment 

Employment  exchanges — see  Labor  ex- 
changes 

Engineering   Employers'   Federation,   68 

Engineering  trades:  disagreement  in,  68- 
71;  controlled  establishments,  90-94; 
Clyde  strike  in  1915,  65-67,  74;  in 
1916,  325-326;  strike  in  engineering  in- 
dustry, 1918,  267-268;  labor  readjust- 
ment,  324 

Engineers,  Amalgamated  Society  of — see 
Amalgamated   Society  of  Engineers 

English  industry  and  labor  at  outbreak  of 
war,  22  31 

Enlistments:  restricting  from  essential  in- 
dustries, ll.'>-119;  table,  number  and  per- 
centage,  117 

Essential  industries:  national  service 
scheme,  130-135;  list  by  Director  Gen- 
eral of  National  Service.  131;  pro- 
tected occupations  list,  134-135:  list  of 
certified  occupations,  136;  women  in, 
171 

Excess  profits,  69,  76,  91,  93 


Exemptions:  under  military  service  acts, 
127-130;  canceled,  134-133;  men  en- 
titled to,   136;   complaints,  255 

Exports,  value  of,   23-24 

Factories    Department:    overtime,    120-121; 

rule    for    protected    class    of   labor,    122; 

report  on  hours  of  work,   1917,  210 
Farwell.     Justice,     decision     in     Taff     Vale 

Railway    strike    case,    9 
Federation  of  British  Industries,  discussion 

on  Whitley  report,  289 
Food,  Ministry  of,  204-205 
Fyfe,  Thomas  Alexander,   87,   103 

Garrod,  H.  W.,  162 

Geddes,  Sir  Austin,  137 

Gladstone,  William  E.,  4 

Glasgow  dock   laborers'   strike,   236 

Conner,   E.   C.  K.,  240 

Gosling,  Harry,  240,  277 

Government:  efforts  to  relieve  distress  due 
to  unemployment,  42.  44;  to  furnish 
work  to  Belgian  refugees,  44-48;  plans 
criticised,  48;  emergency  grants,  49-52; 
relief  of  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors, 
55-57;  investigation  of  industrial  unrest, 
243-246;  reforms  to  relieve,  264-267; 
lack  of  coordination  between  depart- 
ments dealing  with  labor,  257-258;  rec- 
ommendations for  improving,  257-258; 
recognition  of  labor  demands,  269-271 

Hatch,  Sir  Ernest,  44 

Health  of  Munitions  Workers  Committee, 
121,  208.  210,  213.  214.  218 

Henderson,   Arthur,   77,   83,   234 

Holidays:  economic  value,  214-215,  318- 
319;  labor,  191,  198 

Hours  of  labor:  31,  205-214;  government 
control,  92.  99,  100;  overtime,  120-123; 
scale  of  hours  giving  largest  amount  of 
production,  206;  report  of  Health  of 
Munitions  Workers  Committee,  208,  210, 
211-213,  214;  regulation  on  government 
work,  209;  special  report  Factories  In- 
spector, 210;  interdepartmental  commit- 
tee's action  in  regard  to,  213;  long 
hours  opposed  by  Adult  Education  Com- 
mittee, 318.  See  also  Holidays;  Sunday 
labor 

Housing  _  problem:  contributory  cause  of 
pauperism,  6;  reform  acts  to  relieve 
overcrowding,  15-16;  supplemented  by 
Finance  Act,  1910,  16-17;  conditions 
and  legislation.  220-224;  estimated 
needs,  1917,  221;  temporary  housing, 
222-223;  government  ownership  pro- 
posed, 223;  Billeting  of  Civilians  Act, 
224;  as  cause  of  industrial  unrest,  258- 
260;  government  scheme  to  relieve,  266; 
Adult  Education  Committee's  report,   319 

Housing  and  Town  Planning  Acts,  15-16, 
221 

Immigration  in  relation  to  employment 
conditions,  57-58 

Imports,  value  of,  23 

Industrial  and  Social  Conditions  in  Rela- 
tion to  Adult  Education.  317-319 

Industrial  councils:  recommended  by  Brit- 
ish Association,  276;  1st  Whitlev  report 
on._ 270-282;  2d  Whitley  report  on.  29.'i- 
207;  modifications  on  recommendations, 
305-307;  resemblances  and  differences  to 
trade  boards.  306-307 


INDEX 


331 


Industrial  disputes — see  Trades  disputes 
Industrial  organizations — see  Trades  unions 
Industrial    panic   and    readjustment,    32-67. 

See  also  Reconstruction 
Industrial  training  for  women,  154-155 
Industrial  unrest:  payment  by  results,  a 
cause  of,  200;  disputes  during  1914- 
1915,  230,  235;  South  Wales  coal  strike, 
231-234;  strikes  during  the  war,  234- 
237;  recent  government  policy  concern- 
ing disputes,  237-240;  British  Associa- 
tion report  on,  240-243;  investigation  by 
government  commissions,  243-246;  sum- 
maries of  causes,  240-243.  244-246;  high 
prices  and  profiteering,  246-248;  opera- 
tion of  Munitions  of  War  Acts,  248- 
254,  of  Military  Service  Acts,  254-257; 
housing  conditions,  258-260;  liquor  re- 
strictions, 260-262;  fatigue,  208,  211, 
262-263;  local  and  minor  causes,  263- 
264;  government  reforms  to  relieve,  264- 
267 
Industry  and  labor  at  outbreak  of  war,  22 
Iron  and  steel  trades,  labor  readjustment, 
324 

Jackson.   Frederick   Huth,   278 

Kirkaldy,  Adam  Willis,  276 

Labor  exchanges:  Labor  Exchanges  Act, 
1909,  7;  registers  compared  1913,  1914, 
34,  41;  employment  for  refugees,  46, 
47-48;  policy  to  protect  British  labor, 
46;  providing  substitutes,  130,  135-136; 
list  of  trades  for  guidance  of,  131; 
placements  of  volunteers,  133;  coopera- 
tion with  National  Service  Department, 
138;  skilled  vacancies  filled,  144;  num- 
ber on  registers  1914,  145,  174;  tables, 
145,  147;  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors, 
228 
Labor  laws  and  legislation:  liberal  labor 
measures,  4;  Trades  Disputes  Act,  8-10; 
Workmen's  compensation,  10-11;  old  age 
pensions,  11-13;  minimum  wage,  13-15; 
Housing  of  the  Working  Classes  Act, 
1890,  15;  Housing,  Town  Planning  Act, 
1909,  15-16;  supplemented  by  Finance 
Act,  1910,  16-17;  Labor  Exchange  Act, 
1909,  17;  National  Insurance  Act,  1911, 
(part  2)  unemployment,  18-19;  (part  1) 
health  insurance,  19-20.  See  also  De- 
fense of  the  Realm  Consolidation  Act; 
Munitions  of  War  Acts 
Labor,  Ministry  of,  177,  237 
Labor  organizations — see  Trades  unions 
Labor  party:  37,  formation,  4;  Munitions 
of  War  Act,  87;  favors  aiding  disabled 
soldiers  and  sailors,  229;  growth,  308; 
cooperation  with  Trades  Union  Congress, 
308-309;  reconstruction  program,  308- 
317;  universal  enforcement  of  national 
minimum,  310-312;  restoration  of  pre- 
war conditions  of  trade  unions,  311;  na- 
tionalization of  great  public  utilities, 
313;  democratic  control  of  industry,  312- 
314;  municipal  socialism,  313-314;  gov- 
ernment control  of  certain  commodities, 
314;  price  fixing  for  standardized  prod- 
ucts, 314;  financial  program,  314-315; 
surplus  wealth  for  the  common  good, 
315;  political  aims,  31.')-3]6;  later  pro- 
gram of  June,  1918,  316-317;  informal 
reply  of  Prime  Minister  to  Manchester 
resolutions,  270-271 


Labor    readjustments — see    Readjustments; 

Reconstruction 
Labor  Resettlement  Committee,   320-322 
Labour   and    the   New   Social    Order,    308- 

317 
Labour  Gazette,  52,  54,  61,  186,  187,  322 
Labour  in   War  Time,  32 
Labour  Year  Book,  62,  69 
Lancashire  cotton  mills  strike,  236 
Leaving  certificates,    102-105,  249,  250 
Liberal   party,    4 
Liquor    problem:    lost    time    due  to    drink, 

81-83;  restrictions  as  cause  of  industrial 

unrest,      260-262;      program      of     Labor 

party,  313 
Liverpool  dock  laborers'  strike,   236 
Lloyd  George,   David,   14,   16,  75,   76,   77, 

78,    81,    83,    84,    94,    130,    140,    141, 

142,   152,   191,  270 

Macarthur,   Mary,  97 

Macassey,  Lyndon,   100 

Military  Service  Acts:  industrial  exemp- 
tions under,  127-130;  complaints  aris- 
ing from  operation  of  act,  254-257;  ex- 
emption of  skilled  laborers,  255;  schedule 
of  protected  occupations,  255-256;  minor 
causes  of  complaint,  256-257;  recruit- 
ing transferred  to  the  National  Service 
Commission  to  relieve  complaint,  265- 
266 

Minimum  wage:  legislation,  13-15;  for 
men,  188;  women,  191;  private  indus- 
tries, 196;  agriculture,  266;  program  of 
Labor  party,  310 

Mobility  of  labor:  94,  139;  restrictions  on, 
101-105;   leaving  certificates,   102-105 

Munitions,  Ministry  of:  creation  and  pol- 
icy, 84-85;  munitions  bill  passed,  July  2, 
1915,  85;  provisions  regulating  con- 
trolled establishments,  91-93;  powers, 
88,  99,  100,  104,  180;  exemotion  cer- 
tificates, 103;  regulation  of  employment 
of_  released  army  men,  105;  arbitration 
tribunals,  110,  111;  lends  women  dem- 
onstrator-operatives, 158;  expenditures, 
222;  temporary  housing,  222,  223; 
Welfare  Department  established,  217; 
scope  of  work,    218,    219,   220;   Central 

•  Labor  Supply  Committee  to  advise,  181; 
recording  changes  prewar  practice,  182; 
orders  affecting  wages,  189,  190-192, 
193,  194,  196,  197,  198,  199;  hours  of 
labor,  213;  holidays,  215 

Munitions  of  War  Acts:  67;  Act  of  1915, 
70,  79,  86,  97,  111,  141,  162,  180; 
criticized,  86;  abstract  of  provisions,  87- 
89;  meaning  of  "  munitions  work,"  89- 
90;  dilution  of  labor,  97,  141,  250-251; 
extended  to  private  work,  183,  238,  239; 
amendment  abandoned,  184,  239;  re- 
strictions on  mobility  of  labor,  101-102; 
penalties  provided  by  act,  108-109; 
wage  regulation,  188;  settlement  of  dis- 
putes, 109-112,  230;  operation  of  act, 
248-254;  complaints  arising  from,  249; 
leaving  certificates,  250;  failure  to  re- 
cord changes  of  practice,  251 ;  inequality 
of  earnings  as  between  skilled  and  un- 
skilled, 251-252;  inability  or  unwilling- 
ness to  restore  prewar  conditions,  253; 
arbitrary  or  unsatisfactory  action  of  mu- 
nitions tribunals  and  delay  in  securing 
settlements,  253-254;  amendments  of 
act,    1916,   86,   98,    99,    108,    111,    162, 


332 


INDEX 


189,  190,  197;  amendments  of  act, 
1917,  86,  92,  100,   112,  199,  265 

Munitions  trades:  war  bonus,  60;  profits 
limited,  69,  91;  acceleration  of  produc- 
tion, 75,  76;  local  munitions  commit- 
tees, 79;  proposals  before  conference  of 
trade  unions  leaders  representing,  85; 
controlled  establishments,  88,  90-94,  100, 
140;  wage  regulation,  189-190;  of 
women,  190-197;  of  men,  197-200; 
changes  in  wages,  185,  194;  meaning  of 
munitions  work,  89-90;  munitions  volun- 
teers 94-96,  104,  124,  126,  213;  as 
alternative  for  conscription,  96;  govern- 
ment orders  relating  to  skilled  labor,  98; 
army  reserve  munitions  workers,  105, 
106,  118,  126;  overtime,  122,  123,  208; 
appeals  for  volunteers,  124,  126;  com- 
pulsory registration,  126-127;  restricted 
occupations  and  essential  industries,  131; 
release  of  workers  for  military  and  naval 
service,  134;  women  in,  152-154,  160- 
162;  table  of  numbers  and  proportion, 
161 ;  sources  of  supply  of  women  work- 
ers, 171,  172,  175;  recruited  from  non- 
industrial  areas,  177;  training  classes 
for  workers,  155,  157,  158;  replacement 
of  men  by  women,  178,  179;  orders  re- 
lating to  health  and  efficiency  of  workers, 
208;  to  hours  of  labor,  213;  to  holidays, 
215;  welfare  work,  216,  217;  Welfare 
Department,  217,  218;  housing  condi- 
tions in  munitions  centers,  221;  un- 
employment insurance,  226-227;  em- 
ployment  of   demobilized   workers,   322 

Munitions  tribunals:  103,  104;  general, 
106;  local,  107;  provisions  of  amended 
munitions  act,   1916,   108,   109 

Murray,   Sir  George,   56 

National  Insurance  Act,  part  2,  unemploy- 
ment, 7,  35,  49;  part  1,  health  insur- 
ance, 19-20;  emergency  grants  under, 
49-52 

National  Labor  Advisory  Committee,  84, 
181 

National    Registration    Act,    1915,    126-127 

National  service:  compulsory  registration, 
126-127;  government  scheme,  130-134; 
reasons  for  failure,  132;  efforts  to 
amend  scheme,  132-134;  new  plan,  136- 
138;  appeal  for  volunteers,  131;  num- 
ber enrolled  and  placed,  133;  outline 
for  enrolling,  137.  138;  Ministry  of  Na- 
tional Service,  131,  132,  133;  report  of 
select  committee  on  national  expendi- 
ture, 133;  employment  exchanges,  135- 
136;   industrial  conscription,   138-139 

National  Service  Department,  133,  134- 
136 

National  Service,  Ministry  of,  131,  132, 
138 

Newman,   Sir  George,   208 

Occupations:  essential  industries,  130-135; 
list  of  restricted,  131;  list  of  protected, 
134-135;  list  of  certified,  136;  table, 
analv<:is  prewar  occupations  of  women 
workers,   173 

Old  age  pensions:  beginning  of  aeitation, 
11;  law  enacted  August  1,  1908,  12; 
provisions  of  act.  12;  advance  estimate 
of  number  applying,  12:  additional  al- 
lowance during  war,  12-13 


Overtime  work:  98;  acts  regulating,  119- 
120;  orders  permitting,  120,  122,  123; 
rates  for,  19l;  holiday  work,  191;  rate 
of  pay,  198;  effect  on  women,  205,  206, 
207;  Sunday  labor,  191,  208,  209,  210, 
212;  overtime  preferable  to,  209;  strain 
counteracted  by  increased  pay,  212;  ob- 
jections to,  211;  overtime  should  be 
concentrated,  212;  economically  ex- 
travagant, 213;  opposed  by  Adult  Edu- 
cation Committee,  318 

Panic:  effect  of  war  on  industry,  32;  ad- 
vance of  retail  prices,  32-33;  growth  of 
unemployment,  33-35;  methods  of  public 
relief,  35-36;  trade  disturbances  less 
widespread  than  feared,  42.  See  also 
Readjustment;   Reconstruction _ 

Pauperism:  tendency  and  public  expendi- 
tures, 4;  causes,  5-7;  reduction,  26-27; 
percentage  August,  1914,  35-36;  results 
shown  by  statistics,  225 

Payment  by  results,  92,  200 

Pensions:  delays  in  granting,  266.  See 
also   Old   age  pensions 

Pensions,  Ministry  of,  1916,  227 

Poor  Law  Commission:  report  quoted,  4; 
appointed,  4-5;  findings  and  recommenda- 
tions, 5-8;  services  of  investigation  and 
report,  8 

Poor  laws,  administration  and  history,  5 

Police.  Factories,  etc.,  (Miscellaneous 
Provisions)    Act,   220 

Prewar  conditions  of  employment,  restora- 
tion of — see  Employment 

Prices:  wholesale,  24;  retail,  24,  31,  32; 
changes  in,  59,  60-62;  table  of  percen- 
tages "above  normal,"  61;  of  food,  62; 
cause  of  industrial  unrest,  246;  govern- 
ment plans  to  reform,  264-265 

Production:  of  leading  commodities,  23-24; 
value  of  imports,  23;  value  of  exports, 
23-24;  employers  and  trades  unions  at- 
tempt to  agree  to  program,  67,  68-70; 
reports  of  Committee  on  Production,  71- 
74;  legislation  to  aid  and  increase,  74, 
88,  92-93;  effects  of  overtime,  206,  207, 
208;  output  in  relation  to  hours  of  la- 
bor, 209,  210,   211 

Production,  Committee  on:  appointment, 
65;  orders  resumption  of  work  in  Clyde 
shipyards,  65-66;  reports,  71;  1st,  "ir- 
regular time  keeping,"  71 ;  2d,  "  shells 
and  fuses  and  avoidance  of  stoppage  of 
work,"  71-72;  3d,  demarcation  of  work, 
73-74;  4th,  Clyde  strike,  65-67.  74; 
named  tribunal  to  settle  strikes,  74;  to 
arbitrat-  labor  disnut'-s.  Treasurv  agree- 
ment. 76:  work.  1915,  79,  80.  81  :  rec- 
ommendations, foundation  Munitions  of 
War  Acts,  86;  awards  of  war  bonuses, 
etc.,  188;  right  to  review  wage  rate  of 
women,  194;  award  of  bonus  extended, 
109 

Profiteering:  cause  of  industrial  unrest, 
246-24S;  government  plans  to  reform, 
264-265 

Profits,  excess.   69,  76.   f^l.   93 

Prosperity:  t^sts  applied  to  working 
classes."  25-26 

Protected   occupations  list.   134-1  S.^i 

Public   utilities  nationalization,   313 

Railway  Servants,  Amalgamated  Society  of 
— see  Amalgamated  Society  of  Railway 
Servants 


INDEX 


333 


Readjustment:  reduction  of  trades  disputes, 
36-38;  recovery  of  employment  condi- 
tions, 38-41;  in  women's  trades,  41-42; 
government  efforts  to  relieve  distress  due 
to  unemployment,  42-44;  special  commit- 
tee appointed,  42;  report,  42-44;  work 
for  Belgian  refugees,  44-48;  special  com- 
mittee to  investigate  conditions,  etc.,  44; 
report,  44-48;  criticism  of  governments' 
plans,  48-49;  program  of  Workers'  Na- 
tional Committee,  48-49;  emergency 
grants,  49-52;  industrial  transfers  of 
women,  52-54;  disappearance  of  unem- 
ployment, 54-55;  relief  of  disabled  sol- 
diers and  sailors,  55-57;  report  of  Local 
Government  Boards'  Committee  upon 
methods  of  employment,  55-57;  emigra- 
gration  and  immigration,  57-58;  changes 
in  wage  rates,  58-60;  in  prices,  60-62; 
resumption  of  strikes,  62-67;  labor  read- 
justment investigations,  324-325;  women 
in  industry,  326-328.  See  also  Recon- 
struction 

Reconstruction:  memorandum  of  advisory 
housing  panel,  223;  government  recogni- 
tion of  labor  demands,  269-271 ;  pro- 
gram of  British  Association,  271-276; 
trade  union  agreement,  276-279;  report 
of  Reconstruction  Committee,  279-282; 
discussion  of,  283-291 ;  recommendations 
adopted,  292-293;  Ministry  of  Recon- 
struction created,  293-294;  work  of,  294- 
295;  2d  report  on  industrial  councils, 
295-297;  works  committees,  297-302; 
conciliation  and  arbitration,  302-303; 
government  takes  steps  to  establish  in- 
dustrial councils,  303-305 ;  industrial 
councils  and  trade  boards,  305-308;  pro- 
gram of  Labor  party,  308-317;  report  of 
Committee  on  Adult  Education,  317-319; 
government  plans  for  demobilization, 
319-323;  labor  readjustments,  323-328; 
Board  of  Trade  investigations,  324-325; 
women,  326-328 

Reconstruction  Committee  on  Industrial 
Councils,   266 

Reconstruction,  Ministry  of,  223 

Relations  between  Employers  and  Em- 
ployed Committee,  294.  See  also  Whit- 
ley  report 

Relief  work:  unemployment,  17;  methods 
of  public,  35;  government  efforts  to  re- 
lieve distress,  42-44;  work  for  Belgian 
refugees,  44-48;  criticism  of  government 
plans,  48-49;  emergency  grants,  49-52; 
relief  of  soldiers  and  sailors,  55-57 

Rents,   25,   202,   204 

Road  Board,  42;  efforts  for  unemployed, 
43-44 

Rowntree,   B.  S.,  4,  217 

Runciman,  Walter,  75,  76,  77,  232,  233, 
234 


Sailors — see  Soldiers  and  sailors 

Salisbury,  Lord,  4 

Samuel,  Herbert,   42 

Science,  British  Association  for  the_  Ad- 
vancement of — see  British  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science 

Seamen's  compensation,  266 

Shortage  of  labor:  early  in  the  war,  113- 
114;  of  female  labor,  164,  174;  over- 
time work  as  cure,  119-126;  effect  on 
wages,  188;  cost  of  living,  205 


Skilled  labor:  wages,  25;  government  or- 
ders affecting,  98;  in  demand,  102;  sub- 
stitutions for,  129,  140,  143,  144,  153- 
154,  156,  157,  158;  withdrawn  from 
army  and  enlistment  restricted,  118-119; 
exemptions,  129;  safeguarding,  184 

Social  legislation,  3-21 ;  findings  and  rec- 
ommendations of  Poor  Law  Commission, 
5-8;  effect  upon  problems  of  the  war, 
20-21 

Soldiers  and  sailors:  relief  of  disabled,  55- 
57,  227-229;  pensions,  229,  266;  re- 
leased from  army  as  munitions  workers, 
105;  employment  and  reeducation,  228; 
resettlement  in  civil  life,  321;  settle- 
ment on  land,   321 

South  Wales  coal  strike,  231-234 

Strikes:  Taff  Vale  Railway  strike,  9;  per- 
centage of  workers  involved,  1911-1913, 
30;  recrudescence  of,  62-64;  Clyde 
strike,  65-67,  74;  avoidance  of  stop- 
pages, 72,  74,  70;  government  can  not 
prevent,  84;  prohibition  of,  109-112; 
methods  for  settling,  109-110;  arbitra- 
tion, 110-111;  engineering  trades,  129; 
"silent  strike,"  184;  South  Wales  coal 
strike,  231-234;  strikes  during  the  war, 
234-237;  Lancashire  cotton  mills  strike, 
236;  Glasgow  dock  laborers'  strike,  236; 
Liverpool   dock  laborers'   strike,    236 

Sunday  work,   191,  208,  209,  210,  212 

Supply  and  distribution  of  labor:  transfers 
of  women  workers,  52-54,  115,  175,  176, 
177,  178;  obtaining  labor,  69;  shortage, 
54;  early  in  the  war,  113-114;  overtime 
work  cure  for,  119-126;  transfers 
through  employment  exchanges,  114- 
115;  government  efforts  to  prevent  en- 
listments from  essential  industries,  115; 
compulsory  registration  for  industrial 
purposes,  126;  industrial  exemptions 
from  military  service,  127-130;  national 
service  scheme,  130-134;  jjrotected  oc- 
cupations list,  134-135;  national  service 
and  employment  exchanges,  135-136; 
new  national  service  plan,  136-138;  in- 
dustrial conscription,  138139;  Central 
Labor  Supply  Committee,  181 

Taff  Vale  Railway  strike,  9 

Tennant,  H.  J.,  69 

Textile  trades,   labor  readjustment,   324 

Time  keeping,  report  Committee  on  Pro- 
duction, 71 

Trade,  Board  of:  settlement  of  strikes,  etc. 
109,  110,  111,  112;  estimates  as  to  en 
listments  from  various  trades,  117;  ap 
peal  to  women  for  war  service,  124;  eX' 
emptions  to  classes  of  workers,  129 
propaganda  for  women  in  farm  work, 
167;  number  receiving  war  bonus  or  ia 
creased  wages,  1915,  186;  munitions 
workers  excluded  from  unemployment  in- 
surance, 226;  report  on  settlement  of 
soldiers  and  sailors  on  land,  321;  labor 
readjustment  investigations,  324-325 

Trade  Boards  Act,  1909,  14;  amendment 
of  1918,  307-308 

Trades  boards,  resemblances  and  diflfer- 
ences  to  industrial  councils,  306-.307 

Trades  disputes:  industrial  disputes,  29-31; 
reduction  in  trade  disputes,  36-38;  in- 
dustrial truce  due  to  the  war,  37;  set- 
tlement 62,  112,  113;  increase  of,  62- 
63;  table,  80;  serious  phase  of  increase. 


334 


INDEX 


80;  during  1914  and  1915,  230;  recent 
government  policy  concerning,  237-240. 
See  also  Arbitration;  Strikes 
Trades  Disputes  Act,  1906,  8-10 
Trades  unions:  legalized,  9;  provisions. 
Trades  Disputes  Act,  10;  labor  and  in- 
dustrial organizations,  27-29;  increase  in 
female  membership,  28;  trade  union 
movement,  27-29;  strength  at  outbreak 
of  war,  28;  formation  of  Triple  Alli- 
ance, 1914,  28-29;  relations  with  organ- 
izations of  employers,  29;  relation  to  in- 
dustrial disputes,  30-31;  government 
emergency  grants,  49-52;  applications 
for,  51;  table,  51;  government  and  the 
trade  unions,  68-85;  disagreement  in  en- 
gineering trades,  68-71;  speech  of  H.  J. 
Tennant  in  House  of  Commons  urging 
relaxation  of  rules,  69;  recommendations 
of  Productions  Committee,  71-74;  re- 
strictive rules  affecting  production,  71- 
72;  stoppage  of  work,  72;  contractor's 
undertaking  in  behalf  of,  72;  demarca- 
tion of  work,  73;  utilization  of  semi- 
skilled and  unskilled  labor,  73-74 ;  Treas- 
ury conference  to  consider  output  of 
munitions,  75;  proposed  agreement  sub- 
mitted to,  76;  endorsed  by  unions,  77; 
Treasury  agreement,  78,  84,  86,  91,  92, 
140,  141,  142,  162,  180,  181;  adminis- 
tration of  agreement,  79-81 ;  membership 
not  cause  for  discharge,  112;  skilled 
craftsmen  exempted  from  military  service, 
129;  resistance  to  industrial  conscription, 
139;  attitude  toward  dilutaon  of  labor, 
141-142,  156,  157,  163,  180-181;  oppose 
dilution,  141-142,  180-181;  oppose 
women  for  skilled  work,  156,  157;  allow 
the  substitution  of  women  for  men,  163; 
wage  rates,  189,  196;  affecting  women, 
191,  192,  193,  194,  195;  agreements, 
198;  oppose  systems  of  payments  by  re- 
sults, 200;  Sunday  labor,  208,  209,  210; 
small  percentage  of  unemployed,  224; 
disabled  soldiers  and  sailors,  229;  atti- 
tude toward  labor  participation  in  indus- 
trial management,  276-279;  relation  of 
works  committees  to,  301-302;  restora- 
tion of  prewar  conditions,  311.  See 
also  Arbitration;  Strikes;  Trades  dis- 
putes 
Trades  Unions  Congress,  141,  308-309 
Treasury  Conference:  formation  and  pur- 
pose, 75;  proposals  for  submission,  76; 
endorsed  by  trades  unions,  77;  text  of 
amended  agreement,  78;  press  and  public 
favorable  to,  78;  agreement,  84,  92, 
140.  141-142,  162,  180;  administration 
of,  79-81 ;  supplemental  agreement,  91 
Triple  Alliance  of  Trade  Unions,  28-29 

Unemployed  Workmen's  .Act  191.",  225 
Unemployment:  statistics,  22-23;  work  of 
distress  committees,  26;  table,  27; 
growth,  33-3.5;  war  office  memorandum 
to  contractors,  36:  recovery  of  employ- 
ment conditions.  38-41;  percentage  ta- 
ble, insured  trades.  38;  trades  working 
on  war  material,  39;  effect  of  military 
service,  40;  recovery  in  women's  trades. 
41-42;  percentage  table.  42:  work  of 
Road  Board,  43-44;  efforts  to  find  work 
for  Belgian  refugees,  44-48;  criticism  of 
government  plans,  48-49;  emergency 
grants,     49-52;     disappearance    of,     54; 


numbers  on  registers,  employment  ex- 
changes, 1914-1917,  145-146;  among 
women,  154;  unemployment  and  its  re- 
lief, 35-36,  42-44,  55,  221,  224-227;  ex- 
tension of  state  insurance,  225-226; 
means  of  guarding  against,  311-312;  re- 
port of  Committee  on  Adult  Education, 
318.  See  also  Employment 
Unskilled  labor,  98-100. 

Wages:  low,  contributory  cause  of  pauper- 
ism, 7;  Trade  Boards  Act,  1909,  7; 
trades  unions  disputes  over,  30;  changes 
in,  24-25,  58-59;  relation  to  cost  of  liv- 
ing, 31;  decrease  in  earnings,  34-35; 
adjustment  of,  79;  "  war  wages,"  80; 
women  and  unskilled  labor,  98-100; 
wages  of  men  affect  supply  of  female 
labor,  53;  changes  in  rate,  58-59;  war 
bonus,  59-60,  63,  64,  196,  199,  200. 
regulation  by  Minister  of  MunitionSi 
100;  skilled  workmen  released  from 
army,  118;  war  work  volunteers,  138 
extent  of  increases,  185-188;  fluctua 
tion,  186,  187;  attract  women  to  indus- 
try. 172;  regulation,  188-190;  of  wom 
en's,  190-197;  of  men's,  197-200;  over- 
time, 191;  Sunday,  191,  208,  209,  210 
holiday,  191;  standardization,  199;  pay 
ment  by  results,  200;  agriculture,  266 
low,  a  cause  of  industrial  unrest,   263 

War  Aims  of  the  British  Labour  Party, 
316 

War  bonus — see  Wages 

War  munitions  volunteers,  94-96,  104, 
124,  126 

War  Office  memorandum  to  contractors  on 
unemployment,  36 

War  Pensions  Statutory  Committee,  1915, 
227 

War  work — see  National  service 

Welfare  work,  216-220 

Whitley,  J.  H.,  279 

Whitley  report:  243;  1st  report  on  indus- 
trial councils  and  works  committees,  279- 
282;  discussions  by  Northeast  area,  283- 
284;  Northwest  area,  284-285:  York- 
shire and  East  Midlands  area,  285-286; 
West  Midlands  area,  286;  London  and 
Southeastern  area,  286;  Southwest  area, 
287;  Wales  and  Monmouthshire,  287- 
288;  Scotland,  2S8;  approval  of  Federa- 
tion of  British  Industries,  289;  extract 
from  The  Economist,  291;  recommenda- 
tions adopted  by  government,  292-293; 
2d  report  on  industrial  councils,  295- 
297;  works  committees,  297-298;  con- 
ciliation and  arbitration.  302-303 

Women:  increased  membership  in  trades 
unions,  28;  women's  trades,  41-42;  Cen- 
tral Committee  on  Women's  Emplovment 
constituted.  43;  improved  conditions, 
industrial  transfers,  52-54;  employment 
and  remuneration,  98-100;  arbitration 
tribunal  for,  100;  munitions  tribunals, 
10<!;  annual  to  rpffister  for  war  service, 
124.  125;  number  enrolled.  133;  pro- 
tected occupations.  134.  135;  in  clerical 
and  commprrial  occupations.  147-151; 
labor  available  early  in  war.  144-147; 
substitution  for  men,  54.  72,  140.  141. 
144-158.  178-180;  increased  employment 
in  ordinary  lines.  1.51-152;  in  munitions 
trades,  72,  152-154;  industrial  training, 
154-155;    substituted    for    skilled    labor. 


INDEX 


335 


96-97,  156-158;  number  and  proportion 
in  munitions  work,  160-162;  in  non- 
munitions  work,  162-166;  in  agriculture, 
166-168,  175;  statistics  of  employment, 
168-171;  table,  169;  sources  of  supply 
for  workers,  171-175;  mobility  of  labor, 
175-178;  wages,  92,  99,  187,  189,  190- 
197;  hours  of  labor,  99,  206,  207,  210, 
211,  212,  213,  214;  overtime,  120,  201, 
212;  welfare  work,  216-220;  housing 
problem  as  related  to,  319;  rates  of  pay 
not   equal   to   men's   cause   of   industrial 


unrest,    197,    263;    readjustment    in    in- 
dustry, 326-328 
Workers'  National  Committee,  48,  49 
"  Workman  "  and  "  workmen  "  defined,  90 
Workmen's    Compensation    Act,    1909,    10, 

57.  260 
Works  committees:  reports  on,  by  Com- 
mittee on  Relations  between  Employers 
and  Employed,  281-282,  297-298;  by 
Minister  of  Labor,  298;  functions,  299- 
301;   relations  to  trade  unions,   301-302 


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